Into The Dark
by horsecrazy2
Summary: AOD sequel. My own interpretation of what happens after the game ended. Kurtis/Lara eventually
1. Prologue

A/N: Hello all. I'm kind of new to this section; all my other works are Dark Angel fanfiction, but after finishing AOD I was dying to write my own sort of interpretation on what was going to come next. The prologue goes over the end of the game, but I've added a few things of my own, and it doesn't follow *exactly* along, but I've tried to make it pretty close. Hope you like it! The first chapter is already written, so I'll have that up within the next couple of days. Feedback appreciated.  
  
Prologue  
  
______________________________________________________________  
  
Fallen  
  
Vault of Trophies   
  
Prague, London, June 7th, 2003  
  
His gore pattered to grated metal, traversing trembling fingertips to pool beneath him as both knees gave in two spastic jerks. He felt the slick of bile rise to glaze his throat, thrusting against tightly compressed lips, a burning sickness roiling within disturbed stomach fluids.  
  
The surrounding arena rippled before him, its solidity suddenly blurring as long lashes eclipsed intense cerulean orbs for a single moment.   
  
He thrust a hand against the ground, clutching the ragged wound in his gut with the other as he tried to rise.  
  
*Get up.*   
  
Her image danced before him, startlingly clear in a carmine-painted world of agony and terror.  
  
*Flashback*  
  
"You need the third shard so you should go after that. I'll find the last painting and destroy it."  
  
*End Flashback*  
  
A gasp parted blood-dampened lips.  
  
*Flashback*  
  
"Here. Take these two."  
  
"These are *your* specialty, Kurtis."  
  
"Don't worry about ugly here. Go on. You're wasting time. I can take care of her."  
  
*End Flashback*   
  
He squeezed his eyes shut, panting. The effort of pushing himself slowly, painfully to his feet almost prompted his lunch back up his throat. He swayed and plunged an arm out, seeking refuge from his own body as it betrayed him, both legs quivering violently.  
  
*Flashback*   
  
"Glad you came back to save me, stranger."  
  
"Kurtis."  
  
"Lara. And this is business."  
  
*End Flashback*   
  
"Lot of help you're going to be to her." he rasped, a smirk crossing his mouth even as the world plunged to blackness before him. He took a faltering step forward, and another, thrusting his free hand out to feel through this whirling darkness that enveloped him.  
  
Lying forgotten and alone, the special discus he maneuvered using telekinetic powers glowed for a brief moment, then settled into reluctant acquiescence, its soft illumination twining as one with the glistening river of his bodily fluids.  
  
He appeared before her, devilish smirk in place, those rakish bangs shading but never cloaking that keen azure gaze. Beneath the dark shirt and khakis, she sensed the hardness of his body, a firmness built from years of adventuring, the pistol dangling from a holster at his side testament to his often perilous outings. His hand extended to her, welcoming, offering friendship, perhaps even love.  
  
Full lips parted in shock, mahogany orbs widening within beautiful features as her own gaze lingered against the tattoo sheathing sun-darkened flesh.   
  
And now he shifted again, melting back into original form, a mocking smile gracing thin and pale features.  
  
"I've helped you all alone, both in Paris and here. You can trust me Lara Croft."  
  
The barrel of the pistol clutched in deceptively slender fingers surged to target his chest. Her aim had wavered at Kurtis' sudden appearance, a reluctance to blow a bullet through her partner in crime surfacing despite what he'd been only a moment before. Now rage frothed to life beneath her breast, a hatred flaming more brilliantly than the smoking corpse of Ekhardt slumped only a few feet away.  
  
She slipped a finger to the trigger.  
  
"You killed Von Croy." she spat, that tattoo branded within her mind, a memory that rose now from the deepest recesses of her brain. An image frosted in the haze of a stormy night, illuminated only by sporadic flashes of lightning.   
  
His face twisted into ugliness.  
  
"Stupid mortal! So be it."  
  
He thrust upward, in a fantastic leap managed only through supernatural forces, a glow encompassing his slender body. She shielded sensitive eyes, and turned from this unnaturally bright glare, weapon drooping.  
  
The first bolt of energy tossed her backward as easily as a doll thrown by an angry child, slamming Lara into the pillar at her back with force enough to thrust a pained gasp through parted lips.  
  
She landed crouching, lithe frame tensed in anticipation as he circled above. The very air hissed and writhed before her, the scent of seared flesh wafting to curl her nostrils against its unpleasantness.  
  
Lara rose slowly, lethargically, her gaze never leaving the glowing bastard.  
  
The pistol rose, and fired once.  
  
She sprang forward, arms pumping at either side, perspiration slicking flesh beneath clothing.   
  
Another bolt sizzled from above.  
  
She leapt, and rolled, her acrobatics depositing her neatly on her feet before the coveted object. Her gun spat again, and she swooped upon it in the brief opening this distraction gave her, holding the glove securely against her for a moment.  
  
*Payback's a bitch.*  
  
He stumbled through rippling darkness, one strong hand trailing the wall at his side. His throat pulsed in ragged breath, each inhalation torture. His blood meandered in lazy rivulets down muscular legs, marking his hesitant progress. The pistol holstered at his side thrust painfully into flesh, the once soothing pressure now bringing nothing but agony to his battered figure.  
  
He probed the liquid within his mouth with his tongue, tasting its acidity, a few droplets of crimson escaping to cling as miniature rubies to chapped lips.  
  
The blackness rushed to embrace him, in a movement so startling that he pitched sideways, and fell heavily.   
  
Its touch quieted harsh breathing, and in the coolness of its descent Kurtis sensed Death arriving for him.  
  
She swayed far above, fingers spasming against chill flesh, only a single hand saving her from a nasty fall. In the other his glove lay soft and dormant within her small palm, and she shifted to press this to the Sleeper's foot. Her movement erupted the Sleeper's quiescent body into abrupt motion, this fallen angel arching its nude form in a cat-like stretch.  
  
Lara's fingers slipped free, and she snagged a cable as she plunged, using her momentum to leap safely to its companion.  
  
Her boots thrust ancient dust into the air, knees bending to absorb the shock of the fall.  
  
A scream rose, unearthly in its origin, the noise prompting leather-sheathed hands to her ears as she took off. The silken cord of her braid whipped as a satin banner behind  
  
her fleeing back.  
  
The crack of parting rock urged her onward, faster even than before. The cavernous room trembled and thundered, these noises rivaled only by his unnatural shriek, a cacophony that parted the very walls before her.  
  
Milky illumination enveloped the Sleeper, jerking Karel into its unrelenting embrace, exploding outward in a geyser of effulgent light that enveloped the sprinting young woman as well.  
  
She felt its heat nipping at exposed flesh, and the world flared white-hot before her.  
  
* * *  
  
The arena smelled of death.  
  
Her heart froze within her chest, stilling for a single moment as she approached the battle scene, weary and limping but thankfully still alive and kicking. *Looks like I might not be able to say the same for Kurtis.* she thought grimly.  
  
The battleground lay devoid of life, bare before her but for the remnants of his life fluid, the glistening layer of carmine still shimmering.  
  
She crouched to touch the stain with gentle fingers.  
  
She slipped a hand over fresh blood to lightly touch his weapon, her fingers curling in the holes lacing its exterior, holding it as she'd seen him do. It snapped to life, humming and straining toward the darkest corner of the arena, fighting her powerful grasp.  
  
A smile curved full lips.  
  
She rose, and gripping the now-silent Chirugai at her side, followed its call, disappearing into the blackness. 


	2. Chapter One

A/N: Chapter one, as promised. Reviews and comments are appreciated, flamers, however, are not. If something about my story bugs you, feel free to mention it; I'll take any constructive criticism you guys have. I'd like a legitimate reason for any critcism, though, not just an 'Oh your story majorly sucks.' 'Kay? Thanks, guys. :) Hope you enjoy.  
  
Chapter One  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Old Friends  
  
Streets  
  
Paris, London August 5th, 2003  
  
Within the sanctuary of his palm, fire sprang briefly to life, its tendrils flaming brilliantly against the ebony of night for a single moment. Its heat nipped masculine fingers, a welcome relief to the chill darkness thrusting in from all sides.   
  
He fumbled for a second in the right front pocket of the loose jeans he wore, and withdrew the ever-present package of cigarettes, tugging one from the crinkling depths and replacing the pack once more. He touched the cigarette's end to the lighter cradled from the slight breeze tousling dark hair, and snapped it closed as the flame took to tightly rolled paper.  
  
The smoke lightly caressed his willing throat.  
  
He savored its familiar taste before reluctantly pursing lips to expel it into the surrounding dark, scratching absently at the back of his neck.   
  
He'd been searching for her a few weeks now, after recovering from the little Boaz episode, and found that her trail was a surprisingly difficult one to uncover. Apparently, the woman was as good at covering up her tracks as she was attractive.  
  
*And that little observation wasn't supposed to slip in there.* he thought ruefully, setting one strong shoulder against the darkened building at his back. An apartment building, or so he cleverly deduced from the wooden sign swaying not far above proclaiming so. The lights within had long since darkened, and the young man had no worries about being observed by or disturbing the building's occupants.  
  
Now he watched, the intensity of his gaze nearly sheathed by renegade bangs.   
  
Her lithe body curved softly beneath snug jeans and the secure embrace of a gray tank top, the form-fitting piece of material baring toned and slender arms, and also a tanned, taut strip of abdomen which he found enticing. Dark locks tumbled as a silken waterfall over softly rounded shoulders, bound in a familiar braid which caused his heart to thump briefly in recognition. Her boots tread glistening pavement lightly, the sound buried beneath drumming precipitation.  
  
She was his, finally. After weeks of fruitless country-hopping and a few encounters with old...friends in pursuit of this enigmatic woman, he'd now found her again, in the same place he'd first laid eyes on her luscious figure.  
  
He smiled slightly as she ascended a staircase to a waiting door.  
  
She thrust the door wide without knocking, and slipped inside.  
  
He straightened, and the cigarette plunged to a quick death, ground swiftly beneath the heel of one boot.  
  
* * *  
  
"I'm looking for a...friend."  
  
"A...friend? Don't tell me Lara Croft's searching for some long-lost lover because she's finally decided to settle down and get married and pop out a couple a' kids."  
  
Full lips curved in a smirk. "Don't be ridiculous, you hairy little beast. I don't want to marry the man, and I particularly don't want to turn out a couple of brats fathered by him. I have something that belongs to him, and I thought you might be able to help me out in locating him."  
  
She propped booted feet on the wooden table before her, the shabby piece of furniture one of only a few which littered the small room, testament to the hard times on which he'd fallen. Daniel Grosser looked little better than the room itself; he possessed ash-blonde hair, once neatly cut and tousled to lend a sexy air to an altogether fat and unattractive man. Now it lingered in greasy strands against a high forehead, shading verdant orbs beneath their thickness. A stench of unknown origin (well, she had a guess as to where it originated, such a conclusion not too difficult considering his uncleanly state,) wafted to caress sensitive nostrils.   
  
He sought her eyes with his own.  
  
She arched a slender eyebrow. "Daniel, a word of advice from a friend: bathing will not harm you, and it might actually help in securing some new friends once you no longer smell like a wet dog whose gotten his jollies rolling around in a pile of garbage."  
  
He shrugged. "Water's not working. It quit yesterday; don't know what the hell's wrong."  
  
"That smell's accumulated over more than a day."  
  
"You're a sweetheart, Lara. Do you really think the best way to get someone to help you is by insulting them?"  
  
"Threatening works rather well, too, I've noticed."  
  
He rolled his eyes, and crossed both arms over a pudgy stomach sheathed by the loose black T-shirt he'd donned that morning over boxer shorts, its exterior marred by the remnants of his dinner. "So who's this friend you're after?"  
  
"A man."  
  
"Well, yeah, I figured out that much. But I need a little more to go on than 'a man.'"  
  
"You're a funny little fuck, aren't you, Daniel."  
  
"Most people tell me so. So what's his name?"  
  
"Kur-" Her gaze fell on the open window, the wide slit encompassing driving rainwater. The scent of nighttime Paris thrust into the tiny apartment, writhing now within her keen nose. She stood, slowly, lethargically, cupping the butt of the pistol holstered to her right leg in a small palm.  
  
"Lara?"  
  
Mahogany orbs narrowed beneath thick lashes, converging on the slender opening.   
  
"Lara?" Daniel prompted once more, wary now.  
  
"Do you make it a habit of always leaving your windows open, Daniel? Paris is a dangerous place, you know. Serial killers, robbers. Lots of unsavory types in Paris." Her mouth curved slightly. "I'm assuming it's why you live here."  
  
"Too damn hot in here with the window closed." he replied as she reluctantly seated herself. "Besides, there hasn't been a Monstrum attack in a long time, thank God. Guy was seriously fucking with people's nerves, whoever he was."  
  
"Quite." she murmured, and pictured him now, convulsing beneath the protruding shaft of a Periapt shard, the crystal's dagger-like blade thrusting bone and flesh, shredding brain as it came to a final rest within Eckhardt's skull.  
  
He clung panting to the drainpipe's slick exterior, saturated clothes molding to taut muscles. His lips parted in slightly ragged breath, the arduous climb disturbing the old wound in his stomach more than he would have guessed.   
  
The moon drifted overhead with the lightness of a passing spirit, illuminating his figure for a single moment beneath its effulgent touch. He tightened white-knuckled fingers against glistening steel, and heaved himself upward another foot, the entire structure clanging lightly in protest.  
  
He ascended only a few more feet, grunting quietly as he climbed. Then, pausing again, he stepped gratefully to the waiting ledge, and dropped instantly to a crouch. Above, her lithe form sheathed his hunched figure in blackness, the shadow swallowing his entire body for a second.   
  
Silently, he loosened the pistol dangling at his side.  
  
Her shadow dissipated, leaving him bathed only in moonlight now.  
  
The refrigerator's light hummed to life as she nudged its door wide, painting beautiful features in golden light. Its offerings seemed pitifully paltry; nothing more than a few jars of various condiments, a moldy sack of grapes, a half-eaten apple and several TV dinners sprinkling its nearly bare shelves. He had, of course, managed to obtain two six packs of beer despite his apparent poverty.  
  
Lara smiled briefly, and shook her head. She snapped two cans free of the nearest pack, and spun on a heel, tossing one to his waiting fingers. "I see you managed to afford a couple of cases of beer even though you probably hardly have any money for food."  
  
He popped the top, and the can ascended to thin lips. "Not mine. Guy who's staying with me said I need some booze in this little shithole. Don't know where the hell he's gone off to. He disappeared about noon today and hasn't been back since."  
  
"Sounds like a charming man." She took a sip from the frosty can cradled within leather-sheathed fingers, and grimaced. "With an apparent lack of taste in beverages."  
  
"He comes and goes. Showed up one day and said he needed a place to stay for a little while, while he worked something out. I met him a few years ago, but I hadn't seen him since, so I was kinda' surprised. But, I figured, what the hell. He can help out with the rent."  
  
"You pay rent for this scuzzy place?"  
  
"If I want to keep my nice little ass from getting thrown out on the street, I do."  
  
" 'Nice, little' being synonyms for disgustingly huge?" she asked sweetly,quirking an eyebrow.   
  
He thrust a finger up at her and took a long drink.  
  
"I shouldn't stay long, so now that we're done pissing around, I'll get to the point. I've been looking for this man for quite some time now, without any luck. There's a chance he could even be dead, but I think he's still lurking somewhere."  
  
"Lurking, eh? I thought you said this guy was a friend. Normally, people don't make references to their friends 'lurking'." His brow rippled in lines of agitation. "Then again, I forgot who I'm talking to."  
  
"I'm not sure 'friend' is exactly the right word for him, but for lack of anything better to call him, besides 'dickhead,' we'll stick with that."  
  
"So how long has it been since you've seen good ol' dickhead?"  
  
"About two months. The trail could to be quite cold by now, but you're the best man I know for this sort of thing. I'm willing to pay you, of course, and from the looks of things you could really use some cash."  
  
"Not going to argue with that."  
  
"So we have a deal then?"  
  
"Sure. Just give me his name, and whatever information you have on the guy."  
  
"His name's Kurtis Trent, but as for information I don't have much in the way of that. Late twenties, early thirties, probably. I'd say about 5' 11", maybe 6,' well-built, with dark hair cut short and bangs. Blue eyes. Very blue, actually, probably his most distinctive feature."  
  
Daniel, listening to all this as he drank, suddenly pitched forward, a ragged cough thrusting from between parted lips. The froth of his beverage foamed thick against slick lips, traversing an unshaven beard to patter lightly against threadbare carpet. "Sorry, you said 'Kurtis Trent' right?"  
  
"Yes." She perused him through dark eyes. "That's not going to be a problem, now, is it?"  
  
"Oh, I don't think so." He flashed surprisingly white teeth at his guest.  
  
"You know him." There was nothing questioning present within the tone of her voice.  
  
"Yeah, I know him."  
  
"Then do you know where he is? Right now?"  
  
"Possibly."  
  
"And would you *possibly* like to share this information with me?"  
  
"Hey, Lara, you know how this works. No cash, no guy."  
  
Her face hardened suddenly, all warmth dissipating with an abruptness that would have paced him back a step, had he been standing. She leaned her elbows on shapely knees, resting her chin within both gloved palms. "Daniel, Daniel, Daniel. Greediness is not a trait I admire, as you are no doubt aware. If you know where Kurtis is, then you don't have to go to the trouble of finding him, which means there is no job. Which means there is no reason for me to pay you."  
  
"Come on, Lara. You see how bad I'm doin'. You don't want to leave a friend hanging, do you? I just need some cash, a little to tide me over until I can find another job." His eyes pleaded with her.  
  
She softened, and stood. "Then you'll tell me how to contact Kurtis, if I grease your palm a little?"  
  
"Sure. No problem, no problem at all."  
  
"Fine then." From the back pocket of her jeans, she withdrew a wad of bills, and rifled their thickness for a moment before peeling several off.  
  
His gaze lingered almost lovingly on the bills as they passed to his hands, and he savored their touch as they fluttered against pale flesh. His fingertips lightly caressed rich paper, the scent of money awakening a lust deep within. "Thanks Lara." he said softly, rising as well. "This'll really help me out, especially pooled with the money he paid me."  
  
"He? Kurtis?"  
  
"Not quite."  
  
The door exploded inward, plunged from rusting hinges by a powerful kick. She spun, thrusting her weapon free of its restraints, the barrel surging to target this unexpected threat.  
  
They flowed inside, shoulders bowed beneath the weight of heavy weaponry, all clutching automatics in darkly garbed hands. Once inside, they fanned out, seven in all, too many for her to just begin blasting away and still escape in one piece.  
  
Her throat pulsed in rapid breath, now slick beneath a layer of perspiration. "What the hell is this?" she hissed to her friend, keeping her .45 automatic trained on the man nearest her.   
  
"Look, Lara, I'm sorry. But this guy called a few days ago, offering big money if I could get you for him. I owe money, Lara. To guys who mean business. If I hadn't agreed, I'd be totally fucked now. These guys want their money, and if I don't pay up, they'll slit my throat."  
  
"Well, that's really too bad, now, isn't it." she replied coldly, rage heating chill flesh. "Unfortunately, you're still totally fucked."  
  
And the barrel of her pistol spun now to him, the sights nicely lined up with his hooked nose.  
  
Footsteps transcended even the steady roar of precipitation, the treading of heavy boots ringing loudly in his ears. He plunged upright, the pistol now gripped securely in both hands, out before him as he moved nearer to the window.  
  
"Shit." he murmured, his gaze perusing the scene within. He should have extracted her sooner; a safe getaway would be exceedingly more difficult now, with seven trigger-happy bastards surrounding her. Not impossible, but certainly difficult. And he had a sinking feeling that one or both of them might have a few more holes in their bodies by the time this damn night ended.  
  
She stood tensed, muscles coiled in preparation to flee at the first opportunity. His eyes traced the curves of her body for a moment, and he caught the fullness of his bottom lip in gnawing teeth. He glanced to the window again, and the gun drooped ever-so-slightly.  
  
Fluttering lashes sheathed the intensity of his gaze.  
  
Both palms uncurled, laid bare to the elements. His gun slipped free, snagged at the last moment on his index finger, dangling precariously by the trigger guard.  
  
He felt the power build within him, and unleashed it.  
  
She ducked instinctively as the window erupted in a froth of tinkling shards, collapsing as a glittering river to the floor. The echoing thunder of gunfire stretched long through the cramped apartment, exploding painfully loud against her ears.  
  
Two of the men dropped, their gore painting the surrounding walls.  
  
Beneath the chaos following this obviously unplanned occurrence, she heard his voice.  
  
"Come on!"  
  
Lara whirled, and leapt for the gaping hole, her feet touching down briefly against its sill before the chill of night rushed in from all sides to embrace her. Her knees buckled for a moment, absorbing the shock of a firm landing, and she felt his strong arm briefly encircle her waist, reinforcing her balance.  
  
"Up." he said, and swiftly holstered his weapon, lacing both hands.  
  
She stepped without hesitation into them, thinking for a moment of the familiarity of this move. Then he launched her into the night sky, and she felt the hardness of the roof's tiles pressed all along her.  
  
*Going to be a bruise there in the morning.*   
  
Gunfire laced the night.  
  
She heard him grunt, and now he thrust himself straight up, groping for a handhold on the roof's edge. Her fingers slipped over his own, twining around both wrists, arm muscles bunching as she hauled back.  
  
He pushed off the building's side, a stray bullet tearing the drainpipe he'd scaled free of hard brick. His eyes tracked its descent, widening slightly, and then his body cleared their sights. He stumbled to his feet, and felt the warmth of her hand present at his left shoulder, her palm cupped to staunch carmine fluid.  
  
*I knew someone was going to get shot.* His fingers closed hard around her forearm. "Go! You can feel me up as soon as these guys stop trying to use us as target practice."  
  
"I'd rather just stay here and let them shoot me full of holes if the alternative is feeling you up." she shot back, somewhat irritably as he clasped her arm and flung her halfway across the roof. The momentum of his shove hurtled her toward the building's edge, and she surged into the air, coming down hard on the next building over.  
  
He landed beside her a moment later, and they moved as one now, sprinting recklessly, arms pumping at either side, sweat flowing thick.  
  
"Right." he yelled.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I said right! Turn right!"  
  
"Well I don't know if you happened to notice this or not, but turning right leads to a dead end, as in we plunge to nasty deaths over the side of the building."  
  
"My bike's down there."  
  
"Oh. Well that's so much better; it'll get a brand new paint job when our guts explode all over it, no extra charge."  
  
A bullet sparked off the roof, passing precariously close to his drumming feet. "Looks like our friends are bringing the party up here." His movements never ceased, and now he reached out, setting both hands against her back as she crossed slightly in front of him.  
  
His mighty push thrust her into thin air.  
  
She had a single moment to picture the gleeful way she would haunt and torture him when her spirit rose from the destroyed husk of her body before her boots touched rough canvas and her body tilted backward, depositing Lara with a muttered curse on her ass. The canvas awning upon which she now perched bucked in protest, thrusting her to its edge.  
  
It trembled once more, tossing her clear, only a last frantic grab securing her position. She swayed above glistening pavement, her gaze drifting to the motorbike gleaming in silent wait below.  
  
He slipped past her, and the resounding thud of his boots kissing cement rose above the storm's fury.  
  
She released her grasp on the canvas as the bike thrummed to life, and stumbled slightly on the landing, plunging out a hand to steady herself.   
  
He twisted at the waist and jerked his chin. "Take a ride with me, why dontcha'?" His lips curved in a slight smirk.   
  
"I thought you'd never ask, Kurtis."  
  
* * *  
  
Its tires thrummed quietly against the glistening black river of Paris's streets, lifting a haze of liquid to settle as a damp veil over both shivering bodies. She pressed herself closer to him, but he offered little warmth, his clothes just as saturated as her own,  
  
dark hair tousled and gleaming beneath the tempest overhead.  
  
The darkness parted before them, reaching to willingly embrace Lara and Kurtis as they threaded empty roads.   
  
His scent invaded her nostrils, clean and masculine, one that seemed strangely familiar despite the fact that she'd previously only known him for two days, and hadn't set eyes on him in a couple of months. She breathed it in, welcoming this new smell, an appreciated reprieve from the bike's exhaust.  
  
To her right, darkened buildings slipped anonymously by, no sign of life within most of them at this late hour.  
  
He pulled into an alleyway an hour after their hurried retreat.  
  
The engine's rumbling purr faded into reluctant oblivion.  
  
She removed her hands from his waist, fingertips skimming a strong and damp back before pulling away entirely. They perched in silence for a moment, inhaling the night's sweet perfume, their breaths twining as one as he turned to face her.  
  
Kurtis swung a leg over his motorcycle's bulk, and shifted so they sat knee to knee, jean caressing jean.   
  
"So Lara, am I the first dickhead to rescue you?"  
  
"Yes; I associate with plenty of dickheads, but I shoot most of them before they have the chance to rescue me."  
  
He smiled, a sparkling warmth now present within cerulean orbs. "Then you're probably glad you didn't blow my head off when you had the chance."  
  
"We'll see."  
  
"You have something of mine."  
  
"Yes, and since you must have been eavesdropping outside the window the whole time, you no doubt are aware that I was looking for you so I could give it back. I collected it from our friend Boaz's lair."  
  
Instinctively, he lightly touched the freshly-healed wound in his gut, treading fingertips over the slightly puckered flesh of the scar which had been left behind as testament to his impaling, as though he really needed something to remember it.  
  
Lara followed his unconscious movement, then nodded to his shoulder. "You're bleeding."  
  
"Just nicked me; I'll wrap it and it'll be good as new in a couple a' days." He looked at her. "You got a place to stay?"  
  
"No. I just arrived in Paris earlier tonight and went straight to Daniel Grosser's. I was planning on getting a hotel room, staying a few days, then following up on whatever information he could provide me with as to your whereabouts. Unfortunately, it looks like I might be spending the night on the streets; I brought only cash, and dropped that back at Daniel's when his little SWAT team burst inside."  
  
"Ever heard of a credit card, lady?"  
  
"Ever heard of shutting your mouth when your opinion's not welcome?" Lara snapped.  
  
He thrust up both hands in acquiescence. "No need to get touchy, *Ms.* Croft. I have some euros on me. We can find a motel. Just as soon as you kindly return my Chirugai to me."  
  
"If that was supposed to be a clever reference to a certain part of your anatomy, I haven't taken it in the first place, so if there's a hand on it trying to steal it away, then it's your own."  
  
"It wasn't."  
  
His eyes fell upon the coveted object, and one hand trailed up her sodden thigh to snatch the disk clipped to the belt threading her lithe waist. He held it up before her. "*This* is a Chirugai."  
  
"Ah, the thing you tried to cut my head off with back at the Lourve. Another ancient weapon of the Lux Veritatis?"  
  
"Yes. But slightly more modern than the Periapt Shards." His fingers stirred lightly against the toned flesh of her leg, only the clinging jeans she wore separating his skin from her own. "And as to gripping certain parts of my anatomy, I'm not really into that."  
  
"Good to know." she replied, and smiled. "You said something about a motel room? Was that just an attempt to seduce me, or a sincere offer? Because in case you hadn't noticed, it's bloody cold out here, and a lady's prone to freezing off certain parts of her anatomy when the temperature drops."  
  
He tossed her a sarcastic, two-fingered salute. "Well as long as you're uncomfortable, of course we'll leave right away."   
  
"It's dangerous to mock a woman whose just been betrayed by a friend, is soaking wet, and sharing air space with an infuriating idiot to boot."  
  
"That's not a very nice thing to say about the guy who just rescued you, now is it, Lara?"  
  
"I still haven't forgiven you for stealing my painting. I went to a lot of trouble to pick it up. Not to mention, you took my weapons from me." She shook a finger at him. "That wasn't a very thoughtful thing to do, Kurtis. I've got half a mind to disarm you and ride your little toy off into the distance. See how you like it."  
  
"Then you wouldn't have a place to stay." he said coolly.  
  
They studied one another a moment, no animosity in either gaze despite the rather harsh words exchanged. Then his mouth curved in the sardonic half-smile she'd already begun to associate with him, and he reached behind him to snatch his key from the ignition. "Well come on, then, Lara." He dismounted. "There's a place just up the street from here. I'll leave the bike parked here, in case our new friends come looking for us and recognize it."  
  
She rose to join him.  
  
"We can catch up, maybe drink a cup of tea together or something. Isn't that what you Brits do? Talk and drink tea?"  
  
"Yes. And shoot nasty little men who make fun of us." Lara responded, tapping him gently under the chin with one slender finger. "And I prefer coffee. But if you'd like to indulge in a pansy beverage from time to time, I'm not going to spill such a deep dark secret to the tabloids."  
  
Kurtis smirked, and pocketed his keys. He had a feeling he was going to like this woman. 


	3. Chapter Two

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys. I'll try to keep updating pretty frequently, however I'm going to summer camp next weekend and I'll be there for a week, so don't expect any new chapter during that time. I'll try to get another chapter up in the next few days before I leave. Enjoy! :)  
  
Disclaimer: Sorry, I forgot to add this before. Tomb Raider is not mine, and any characters you recognize from the games are not mine. They belong to Eidos and a bunch of rich guys I don't know the names of.   
  
Chapter Two  
  
__________________________________________________________________________  
  
Born Again  
  
Streets  
  
Paris, London, August 7th, 2003  
  
The falter in his step seemed casual at first, a mere misstep that halted his previously unhindered stride. She didn't cease her movements, pulling slightly ahead of him now, eyeing with silent gratefulness the large building visible just up ahead. Its exterior lay pockmarked and glistening beneath the tempest raging overhead, ravaged by years of harsh weather and cruel hands. This part of town was not a particularly pleasant one, not unfamiliar to the one she'd passed through a couple of months earlier in search of the elusive Bouchard, where she'd made the acquaintance of Janice and the loud-mouthed Pierre.  
  
Her gaze slipped to the man at her side. And also, where she'd first spotted Kurtis Trent. First in the Cafe` Metro, bent over a paper-laden corner table accompanied only by a rather empty bottle of wine, later on the very same motorcycle which had transported them this far.  
  
She felt his body against hers now, and plunged out both arms to cradle him, the move an instinctive one. Muscles corded beneath this sudden added weight as he pitched forward, carrying them both to chill pavement as Lara's knees buckled and gave.  
  
"Kurtis?"  
  
His name parted her full lips, this motion viewed through a rapidly blurring vision.   
  
"Kurtis? What the hell's going on?"  
  
He felt perspiration rise to thickly glaze the slope of his forehead. Heat surged throughout him, building and churning within his panting body, the thrumming of his heartbeat thrusting harder against the confines of his ribs.  
  
Blood frothed against his quivering mouth, traversing a strong chin to patter against the white T-shirt he wore.   
  
"Things are not always as they seem." he whispered.  
  
She stroked damp bangs from his brow, eyebrows knitting above turbulent eyes. "What the hell are you talking about?"  
  
His lips curved briefly, and his hard body flickered beneath her wandering fingertips. One hand slipped to the gun at her hip, caressing chill metal as bright azure orbs swirled to ebony madness.   
  
The gun freed its holster, and she swept its barrel to target his face as it morphed, stretching and elongating, this strangeness stumbling her backward in shock. "Kurtis-"  
  
Joachim Karel stared emptily up at her. "You see, Lara? So many things are only an illusion. Your friend is a figment of imagination, a creation of mine. Maybe a man you could have eventually loved. But not real." He thrust upright.  
  
She gripped her weapon more tightly, its sights never straying from his severe features, the pale flesh marred by intertwining black slashes, their savage lines marking him as one of the ancient Nephili.  
  
"An illusion, Lara Croft."  
  
"Only an illusion."  
  
"Kurtis Trent has never existed."  
  
"Only a figment of your imagination."  
  
These phrases swirled around her, through her, penetrating her very soul , reverberating endlessly within her mind. She paced backward another step, eyes wide within an ashen and stunned face.  
  
"Not real."  
  
"Kurtis does not exist."  
  
"Lara-"  
  
She thrust from the realm of sleep with a gasp, and found only darkness awaiting her.   
  
"Bad dream?"  
  
The voice prompted a hand to her holster, the foggy remnants of slumber not allowing her to immediately recognize the speaker. Her fingers grazed only the coarse, damp material of her jeans. *No weapons. Oh shit.* This revelation bolted her upright, disturbing the covers encasing her slender body. They slipped to pool soundlessly against the floor.  
  
"I took it off." the voice said by way of explanation.   
  
She blinked, the deep masculine tone finally registering. "Kurtis?"  
  
A spark of light flared to life, illuminating glistening blue eyes in its momentary glory. In the brief moment before its extermination, Lara caught sight of a slender object clamped between amusement-curved lips.   
  
She crossed both arms over her chest.  
  
He clicked his lighter shut, and set it on the table beside him.  
  
"Those'll kill you, you know."  
  
"Thanks for that gem of information."  
  
"I thought you might enjoy it."  
  
"Yeah. Thoughts of death always cheer me up. I'm touched you realized that, Lara."  
  
She squinted through layers of darkness at him, the luster of the moon bathing dark hair in effulgent silver. He perched in a chair directly across from the bed, knees parted in the typical male fashion of sitting. The cigarette he gripped loosely between two fingers glowed against the stubble of his cheeks, highlighting dark hair.   
  
*He has no right to be so damn attractive.* she thought, and immediately experienced a flash of irritation. Even at the Louvre, during her first face-to-face meeting with this man, she'd felt an irresistible spark of...something. After he'd succeeded in stealing all her weapons, (in a rather suggestive frisking,) and snatched for himself the painting which Lara had gone to great lengths to procure, those goddamn blue eyes still hadn't failed to draw her in. *Like a moth to a flame.* And there had existed a brief moment of tangible electricity when both had leaned in close, their faces very near to one another, where a slight turn of the head might have resulted in an accidental kiss.  
  
The chill press of steel against the flesh of her throat had instantly dissipated all thoughts of mouth to mouth contact, replaced by the urge to strangle the irritating, gun-toting little thief.  
  
"Why did you take my gun?"   
  
"Thought it might be more comfortable."  
  
"How thoughtful. It's so nice to know that I'm in the company of a gentleman."   
  
He inhaled deeply, and expelled the smoke in his lungs.  
  
She coughed and waved aside the curling wisps reaching to embrace her. "Take it outside, would you?"  
  
"Don't like smokers?"  
  
"No, just their breath."  
  
He smiled. "Then you're not planning on kissing one anytime soon?" A slight question rang within the gravelly tones of his voice.  
  
She felt heat rise within her cheeks, color blossoming in satin flesh at the implication. "No." she returned coldly, relieved to hear her voice emerge normally. Her hand reached to flick on the lamp perched atop the night stand to her right. The abrupt flood of illumination revealed him in the process of stubbing out the butt of his cigarette.  
  
She stirred against the bed's surface, slightly uncomfortable under his intense perusal.  
  
"You killed Eckhardt." he said finally, quietly.  
  
Lara sensed a solemnity which had not been present before in his tone. "I'm sorry about your father. And no, I didn't kill Eckhardt. But he's dead, you can be sure of that."  
  
Kurtis blinked, shock apparent within that beautiful cerulean gaze. "Then how...?"  
  
" A man named Joachim Karel showed up just in time to steal the show. He was the one who stabbed Eckhardt with the final Shard."  
  
"Karel. One of the Cabal members."  
  
"Yes. He manipulated Ekhardt and the others for his own purposes; mainly, the resurrection of the Sleeper. Apparently, the nutcase planned to start a new order; a Nephilim army which would take over the world. He must have become a close advisor to Eckhardt, and waited until the opportune moment, when Eckhardt was prepared to awaken the Sleeper. When I showed up and threw a kink into Eckhardt's plans, it gave Karel the perfect opportunity to step in and take over." She swung both legs over the bed's edge, and rose. "Karel is Nephilim. With the ability to take on the shapes of those around him."  
  
*Flashback*  
  
He appeared before her, devilish smirk in place, those rakish bangs shading but never cloaking that keen azure gaze. Beneath the dark shirt and khakis, she sensed the hardness of his body, a firmness built from years of adventuring, the pistol dangling from a holster at his side testament to his often perilous outings. His hand extended to her, welcoming, offering friendship, perhaps even love.  
  
*End Flashback*  
  
Her gaze surged to his own. "Even yours."  
  
Kurtis looked at her. "What the hell are you talking about?" he said coldly.  
  
"Karel changed himself to look like you, right before I destroyed Eckhardt's glove and the Sleeper. Some sort of cheap ploy to get me to trust him, I suppose. He had me going, but only for a moment. When he claimed to be helping me all along, then took on *your* angelic face," She paused for a moment to teasingly brush slender fingertips over the curve of his cheekbone. "I knew he was lying. You certainly seemed to have no interest in helping me, especially when you stole my painting, then locked me up."  
  
Kurtis smiled. "Yeah. Sorry about that."  
  
"I'm sure you are." Lara replied with a smirk. "It was probably only an accident, anyway."  
  
"Just like you kicking my gun out of my hand and pointing your own at my head was an accident, too."  
  
"A reflex. I tend to get these spasms in my legs when I'm around people who have pissed me off. The doctor told me not to hold back on that instinct. Could end up doing more harm then good, you know."  
  
He smirked. "I know." Kurtis stood, shaking out limbs stiff from lack of use, the curve of his well-toned arms visible beneath the cotton of his T-shirt. His eyes peered out at her from beneath renegade bangs.   
  
His body seemed too near her own, his masculine scent disturbingly tempting. Full lips parted slightly, strands of hair loosened from her braid fluttering within the breath expelled from them. For a moment, Kurtis appeared to be leaning in, almost as though to embrace her, thick lashes cloaking unwavering azure orbs.  
  
Lara blinked, and paced backward a step. *Dammit, you annoying jerk!* "Where's my gun?"  
  
"Why? Not going to shoot me, are you?" She sensed a hint of laughter in that sexy voice of his.  
  
"Perhaps." *I will if I get the urge to kiss you again. That's twice now, Kurtis Trent. I'm not getting sidetracked by you a third time.*  
  
He jerked his chin to the table on which rested the ashtray containing the smoking remnants of his cigarette. Beside it lay her pistol, safely holstered as it had been before.   
  
She shook a finger at him as she retrieved it. "Touching my guns without permission is a big no-no."  
  
"I'll have to remember that."  
  
"What are you packing?" she asked, to fill the ensuing silence.  
  
He thrust his weapon free of its holster and hefted it in one strong hand. "It's a Boran X. A pistol prototype I designed. I had a friend build it using the specifications I gave him."  
  
She traced a fingertip almost lovingly over its barrel, grazing the flesh of his palm as her finger traversed chill metal. He shivered involuntarily and immediately pulled away, annoyance roiling to life within him.  
  
The Boran X returned once more to its resting place.  
  
"Are you a friend, Kurtis?" Lara asked quietly. "Or am I going to end up shooting you?"  
  
"That depends."  
  
"On what?"  
  
"On if our goals are the same or not."  
  
"And what is your goal?"  
  
"To track down Karel, and stop him from rebreeding the Nephilim race into existence." He paused a moment, and looked off into the distance. She resisted the sudden urge to reach out and touch him. "It was my father's job to stop the Nephilim race from being reborn. Now that he's dead, I'm the last living initiate of the Lux Veritatis."  
  
Lara eyed him suspiciously. "Karel's dead. He was destroyed with the Sleeper, two months ago."  
  
"No." He withdrew something from his back pocket, a stained and rumpled sheet of paper which he thrust toward her.   
  
Her brows knit in confusion, forehead rippling into lines of puzzlement. "This is from a newspaper. About an archaeological discovery in Cambodia. What does this have to do with Karel? Weren't the Nephilim based in Turkey?"  
  
"Yes. Turkey is where the Sleeper was transported from. Their stronghold must be buried somewhere beneath there." He tapped the paper she clutched. "Man on the right."  
  
Her gaze dropped automatically to the sheaf of newsprint. Something flickered within her face, an unnamed emotion passing through beautiful features, full lips parting in shock. "Karel. That's him. What interest would he have in Cambodia?"  
  
"I don't know. That's what I came to Paris to find out. And because I thought Daniel Grosser might be able to help me find you."  
  
Lara's head snapped sharply up. Mahogany orbs narrowed to slits as she studied him. "*You* were the man who was staying with Daniel. Tell me, Kurtis: do you always enter his place through the window?"  
  
"I overheard him on the phone earlier that day, making plans to capture you. I waited outside, watched you go in, then climbed a drainpipe on the side of the building. Good deal for me; I found you, and didn't even have to pay the fat bastard any money."  
  
"Why were you looking for me? Just to get that back?" She indicated his Glaive with a slender finger.  
  
"No." His eyes flicked back to hers. "Karel has to be stopped, and I can't do it by myself. I need your help."   
  
She thrust up a hand to halt his next words. "Even if Karel did come out of that little episode unharmed, the Sleeper was destroyed. Karel can't recreate the race without it."  
  
"Don't be so sure about that."   
  
"You know something I don't?"  
  
"Something was eating the inmates in the Sanitarium."  
  
"You mean the place where I should have gone, except that someone locked me up?" Lara inquired sweetly, a sarcastic set to her lips.  
  
Kurtis smirked, and crossed his arms. "When you shut the power off it set something loose inside the Sanitarium. I saw it drag a guard off; took him up into one of the air vents. There was a man down there, a Sanitarium inmate, a truck driver who'd driven the Sleeper over from Turkey. They locked him up so he couldn't leak any information. He said something was eating the guards, and now it was feeding off of them. The 'Screamer' he called it. A Black Angel. The Nephilim is a hybrid cross between humans and fallen ange-"  
  
"Angels, yes I know. It was the Proto. A Proto Nephilim, eating the guards and inmates."  
  
Kurtis lifted both eyebrows. "Yes."  
  
"I saw Eckhardt feed Boaz into something she called 'The Pod.' It must have turned her into that creature you fought later. He was punishing her for failing to destroy the Proto Nephilim." She absently tightened one leather glove as she spoke. "Eckhardt somehow created another Nephilim, without the Sleeper."  
  
"Not just one."  
  
Lara quirked an eyebrow.  
  
"In one of the labs in the Sanitarium, there was something that looked just like the Proto Nephilim, trapped in a glass case, chained in place. But it wasn't alive. Or animated, at least."  
  
"A failed attempt to create a Nephilim? Maybe that one was their first try, and the Proto Nephilim was their success."  
  
"Maybe. Or maybe it just needed something to...wake it up."  
  
"Charming thought." She returned the slip of paper to him. "So what's our next move? How do we destroy Karel, if the destruction of the Sleeper didn't do the trick?" She withdrew her .45, careful to keep its barrel aimed at the floor. "I doubt this is going to do any good against him, no matter how fond of it I am."  
  
"The Nephilim are practically immortal. They can't be killed with regular weapons."  
  
"Practically? Well, that lends a bit of comfort, at least." Her gun slipped quietly back into its holster. "If Karel can't be killed through mortal means, how do we off the man?"  
  
"The same way Eckhardt was killed."  
  
"The Shards?" Lara pursed her lips. "Kurtis, I hate to break it to you, but those Shards were in Eckhardt's body when the place blew. Karel might have escaped somehow, but I'm willing to venture a bet that Eckhardt did not get up and walk out of there with the Periapt Shards safely intact."  
  
"I'm not going to argue with that." he agreed. "But there's a final Shard. One that only my father knew about. He passed on that knowledge to me before Eckhardt murdered him." Cerulean orbs flamed to ice at mention of this, taut muscles tensing further. Warily, Lara placed a slender hand on his shoulder, her fingertips caressing the gauze of the bandage he'd used to staunch the flow of his blood. He seemed to calm slightly beneath her touch, the tightness of his body slowly, lethargically uncoiling. "No one else in the world knows of its existence."  
  
"Is that a hint to keep my mouth shut about it?" she replied, keeping her tone light.   
  
"Might be a good idea."   
  
"So where is this 4th Shard? And how do we get it?"  
  
"I don't know." He thrust a hand up in the air, to halt her next words. "But that's part of why I came back. The Strahov Archives in Prague contain a ton of information on the Lux Veritatis. If we can get in, we might be able to find something on the location of the 4th Shard. If not..." He shrugged both strong shoulders.  
  
"If not, we're screwed." Lara finished dryly. "And what do you mean 'if' we can get in? This place isn't open to the public?"  
  
"No. It's home to many important documents that the government would rather not have Joe Average using for bathroom reading. The keeper of the Archives is a man named Luther Rouzic; a good friend to my father."  
  
"Which means you can get us in." She tapped him lightly on the arm, her fingers lingering longer than was appropriate. "I knew you'd come in handy, eventually."  
  
"Did I forget to mention I'm not on very good terms with Luther Rouzic?" he asked innocently, cocking an eyebrow.   
  
Lara scowled. "Kurtis, I'm losing patience. And when I lose patience, things get ugly. Would you please care to explain to me how we're getting in to the Strahov Archives when you've pissed off the man who overlooks them and they're not allowing people to just walk in off the street?"  
  
He smiled, the flickering intensity in his eyes instantly dissipating all traces of rage. She felt the light pressure of his fingers against her own, and glanced down to find his larger palm curved over her small hand where it still lay on his arm. Slowly, he curled his fingers through hers, lacing their hands together for a single moment. Her breath slipped raggedly through slightly parted lips, the rapid thundering of her heartbeat drumming more insistently than she would have liked.  
  
Angry with herself, she plunged her hand from his, the violent motion stumbling her backward.  
  
Kurtis reached out to steady her, lips twisting in the sexy expression now strangely familiar to her. *Dammit!* "I'm waiting!" Lara snapped, tucking both leather-sheathed hands safely out of his reach against her ribs.  
  
"Hey, take it easy. I was just taking your hand off my arm. You seemed to have forgotten it was still there."  
  
"I'm not interested in any explanations, Kurtis." *Just don't do it again.* "Just tell me how we're getting into the Archives."  
  
"It's almost dawn. How about we take a little road trip? The Archives don't open for appointments until noon. We should be able to make it there before then."   
  
"To do what? Make faces at them through the windows while one of us slips inside unnoticed?" she demanded sarcastically.  
  
"If you want to use a distraction, you could always flash them those-"  
  
"Don't follow that thought through if you'd like to keep your head intact and not have it splattered all over the pretty carpeting." she replied sharply.  
  
"We're going to do a little breaking and entering. We'll stay the day in Prague, wait until night, when no one will notice us."  
  
"Why not? I've already broken into a famous museum. Might as well add an exclusive library to my list."  
  
"We'll need some equipment. I know someone who might be able to help us out with that."  
  
"What? You don't carry around a Robbery-Made-Easy kit in your pocket?"  
  
"Sorry. I'll be sure to be better prepared next time."  
  
They stared at one another moment, until Lara broke eye contact, and turned her back on him. "Fine. Let's get this little show on the road. I prefer not to waste time. But-" She stopped mid-sentence, and pivoted on a heel to face him once more. "It's my turn to drive." Her hand slipped deftly into his front pocket, fumbling slightly before unearthing the keys to his motorcycle.  
  
His eyes widened slightly at the bold move.  
  
"Well. At least now you won't be able to blame any...excitement on the keys in your pocket."  
  
A/N 2: Sorry there's not much action in this one. There'll be plenty in upcoming chapters, trust me. 


	4. Chapter Three

A/N: Ok, I'm back from camp now, (obviously,) so expect updates more often. The next chapter is already about halfway finished and will hopefully be ready either tomorrow or the next day. So read, review, and hopefully enjoy. :)  
  
Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine. Tomb Raider belongs to Eidos and Core Design. Don't even bother trying to sue me; you'll get about five bucks, and is five bucks really worth all the trouble it will be taking me to court?   
  
Chapter Three  
  
__________________________________________________________________  
  
Choices  
  
Strahov Archives  
  
Prague, August 8th, 2003  
  
The building rose above all others, its top softly arched in a majestic dome, the entrance barred to the unworthy by the thickness of twin steel doors. Beneath the moon's brilliance, the stunning piece of architecture lay in silent wait, the streets surrounding it abandoned but for an elderly man out for a late-night stroll with his dog. They passed rapidly on, the sound of his heavier footsteps twining as one with the canine's pattering steps.  
  
For a moment his wrinkled face gleamed beneath a soft wash of gold, the illumination from within the intimidating structure spilling out a nearby window to fall glistening across the damp sidewalk. Then, a moment later the lights snapped off, plunging the Archives into darkness.  
  
The old man and his dog vanished into the swirling night, unconcerned with this familiar and, by now, unimpressive place.  
  
Above, two dark figures crouched amidst grasping shadows, clinging side by side to the Archive's sloped roof. The recent storm had slickened its top, making progress difficult as they ascended damp stone.  
  
In minutes, they reached the roof unnoticed, and rose on shaky legs.  
  
Kurtis pit one hand against the roof's surface for balance, his body trembling slightly with the strain it had just endured. He noticed Lara slip out of the corner of his eye, and darted his free hand instinctively out for her wrist.  
  
She plunged up a hand and shook her head, the abrupt motion loosening clinging bangs from high cheekbones.   
  
He eyed her for a moment, then hoisted himself up over the lip of the roof and onto its flattened center. She landed gracefully beside him, her lithe body close to his own. They rose as one, keen eyes probing shifting darkness for signs of life, muscles tensed in anticipation.  
  
Kurtis slipped free of the pack he wore, and slung it at his feet, pausing a moment to catch his breath. Strong shoulders rose and fell in harsh gasps, bile flowing to settle within the warmth of his mouth. He clutched with trembling fingers for his stomach, both eyes slipping shut.  
  
Lara touched his shoulder.  
  
He leaned against her a moment, his eyes still closed, his inhalations less ragged now.  
  
"You said there are only a few guards?" she asked quietly when he'd pushed himself away.  
  
Kurtis crouched now at her booted feet, unzipping the bag he'd dropped, his hands disappearing for a moment as they groped within. "Yes." He withdrew something from the pack's interior, the object lying cold and heavy within his palm. He passed it to Lara without turning around. "You'll need this."  
  
She hefted it in one hand, testing its weight. It was identical to the one he gripped in his right hand; a specialized dart gun tipped with a fast-acting sedative which they'd picked up from Kurtis' friend. She had to admit his contact had come in handy; the man was apparently a big time player in the black market, specializing in illegal firearms. They'd picked up quite a few handy toys from him. She'd run afoul of the law before, many times in fact, and had no qualms about using less than legal means to get what she needed. It's for a good cause, after all.  
  
"There's a door leading to a storage room on the far side of the roof. We'll get in that way. Once we're inside, we'll split up. Cover more ground that way."  
  
"I don't know what to look for."  
  
Kurtis' head snapped up. He zipped his pack closed and hoisted it onto his back once more, then stood. "Take this." he said quietly, handing a flashlight across to her. "Make sure you don't give your position away to the guards with it."  
  
"Thank you, Kurtis. I never would have thought of that if you hadn't mentioned it." Lara retorted, a bit miffed.  
  
"We'll stash the bag in the storage room and come back for it later. I don't want to be weighed down with a bunch of stuff we don't need."   
  
"And you're going to show me where to begin looking, of course."  
  
"Yes." He began walking, his boots caressing damp stone almost silently. She followed closely, slightly behind, exchanging her .45 for the dart gun as they traversed gleaming cement.   
  
"For some reason I get the feeling this isn't the first time you've entered this place...illegally."  
  
"It's not." he replied shortly, without slowing.  
  
Her gaze surged to his powerful back, lingering against the muscles undulating beneath the clinging T-shirt he wore. He looked so strong, so capable...and yet that slight lapse in his aloofness just a few minutes earlier suggested a weakness, an old injury, most likely. One obtained during his confrontation with Boaz, she suspected, but wisely refrained from asking any questions. Lara doubted he'd be eager to discuss the subject. Particularly now, with him acting downright cold. He'd seemed to grow more and more tense as they approached the Archives building, his muscles cording beneath her hands as they roared ever closer to it on his motorcycle.   
  
The day had not started out unpleasantly. She didn't deny enjoying perching behind him on the bike after a brief argument over the keys, encircling the hardness of his waist with her slender arms. And while collecting their new playthings, more than one stolen glance had passed between the two, with just enough intensity to hint that things might get interesting.  
  
The crack of parting wood assaulted her ears, the heat of a seared door nipping at exposed flesh.  
  
She froze in shock, glancing from Kurtis to the storage room door lying dented and mangled against the far wall of the darkened room. The acrid tang of smoke wafted to curl sensitive nostrils. "There had to have been a quieter way to do that. I thought we wanted to get in unnoticed. You don't think someone didn't hear that, do you?"  
  
"Come on." he said, grasping her roughly by the arm and hauling Lara after him.  
  
She shook him off, and drew the dart gun in one fluid motion. "Don't act like an animal, unless you want me to put you down like one."  
  
"Leave your gun here." he replied, tossing down the bag.  
  
The .45 clattered to hard pavement. "I think I'll do some exploring on my own. If you're going to run around blowing things up, I'd rather not get caught in the crossfire when the guards come running to pump you full of lead."  
  
"Fine."  
  
He stepped in front of her, closing strong fingers around the knob on the door leading into the Archives. He thrust it wide, and stepped into embracing blackness, the dart gun out before him.   
  
She shook her head, and glided through the opening after him.  
  
* * *  
  
Rage flamed to life within his chest, chilling his heart as its loathsome touch flared throughout his body. He passed stealthily through clinging shadows, thrusting his weapon from corner to corner.   
  
His breath slipped gently from between slightly parted lips, whispering harshly over soft flesh. The thrumming of his heart drummed more powerfully, its thunder drowning out all other sounds.  
  
Kurtis dimly perceived the soft thuds of Lara traversing the opposite end of the staircase he climbed, moving away from him. Her scent merged as one with the surrounding musk of old books, eventually dissipating into oblivion.  
  
He paused a moment, listening to her progress, his eyes focused far away, cold gaze converging on the only light which had not been extinguished.  
  
Far above, golden illumination beckoned him silently forward, its brilliance revealed in the minuscule crack beneath a familiar door.  
  
Quietly, Kurtis laid his dart gun aside, balancing it on the banister beside him. Then, his eyes never straying, he retrieved his Boran X from its holster, and slowly jacked a round into the chamber.   
  
The minute click rang frighteningly loud in his ears.  
  
Nothing stirred.  
  
* * *  
  
He appeared out of nowhere, wielding a slender dark object in one large hand. His gaze roved casually over the bookshelves rising to either side of his stocky body, this routine apparently an old and tedious one. Thin lips parted in a cheerful, high-pitched tone, this dissonant tune ringing within sensitive ears.  
  
Lara froze.  
  
In so lithe a movement even someone watching might not have caught it, she immediately spun behind the shelf nearest her, the dark silken cord of her hair swishing once in protest. It settled reluctantly over one softly rounded shoulder as all movement ceased, lying dormant against Lara's body as she pressed herself close to ancient books.   
  
She felt the slick of bile rise against tightly compressed lips.  
  
His scent threaded shadow-laced wood to settle in flaring nostrils.  
  
Golden illumination danced briefly over sun-darkened flesh, its caress stilling a powerfully drumming heart. She glanced down at her weapon, its bulk lying cold and heavy against satin flesh, and grimly curved both small palms around its handle.  
  
She preferred not to leave any evidence of her passing, but if it came down to shooting the bastard or leaving in a body bag...well, the Strahov Archives would have to make do with one less conscious guard.  
  
He passed her sanctuary lethargically, each step torture to the young woman crouched mere feet away. The beam of his flashlight slipped with quiet ease over hard floor, edging all it touched in brilliance for a single moment.  
  
Seconds later, the guard passed onward, his uniformed back melding as one with the ebony fog of grasping shadows.  
  
A sigh parted full lips. Lara's body slackened, leaning heavily against the shelf at her back. I really shouldn't be so concerned about making a mess, after Kurtis' flamboyant entrance. He's probably off goading the other guards into a game of tag.  
  
She shook her head and scowled.  
  
Taking a cautious glance around, ears perked for the slightest sound, she loosened the flashlight clipped to her holster and snapped it on.  
  
Its beam flared outward, revealing the tomes surrounding her on all sides.   
  
"Let's see what we have here." Lara murmured, passing her light over dusty spines.   
  
Silence settled thickly, a softly wandering veil of utter stillness. This eerie noiseless quality to the old building transported her back to the many various tombs she'd visited during her years of adventuring, the feeling not an unpleasant one even though she'd since relinquished her lust of exploring. After Egypt and such a near brush with death, not to mention a betrayal by a man whom she'd once considered a friend, a mentor, Lara had begun to look upon settling down in a whole new light. No matter her actions, however, it seemed she was destined to this life; thrust back into it unwillingly, pursued by cops over rain-slick rooftops, she was now coming to accept that this alone would remain her sole passion. Danger, adventure, harrowing escapes...they prompted life within her, awakened an ardor she'd thought dead.  
  
*And maybe not the only passion, if I'm not careful.* Her mind conjured his image against her will, hard muscles sheathed only by thin cotton, tempting lips curled in sarcasm and amusement.   
  
Kurtis Trent, she knew, would settle for no one. She sensed a kindred spirit in him despite their small time together, a loner who watched his own back and possessed little interest in those around him. The ice of those azure orbs cloaked many emotions, feelings which he had long since denied himself. She'd glimpsed them, from time to time, particularly when the subject of his father arose. He was not completely steel, as he appeared, but no one would ever elicit such a confession from him.  
  
Slender fingers settled lightly against thick binding, smoothing aside clinging grime.   
  
"The Nephilim: Sins of the Fallen Angels. This could be interesting."  
  
The book toppled easily into her waiting hands. She slipped the flashlight between her teeth and clenched it there, rifling the volume's pages with both hands. Its metallic tang curved sumptuous lips in a grimace, the unpleasant taste lingering against the warmth of her tongue.  
  
Finding the passage she sought, Lara spat the light gratefully into her right palm, catching it nimbly and turning its gleam on the pages.  
  
"...and it was the ancient brotherhood of warrior monks, the Lux Veritatis, who combated these fearful creatures, a hybrid cross between fallen angels and human women. Nearly immortal, the results of these unholy unions could only be killed by special weapons possessed only by members of the Lux Veritatis. Often regarded with fear and loathing due to their strange occult powers, the Lux Veritatis now rose as heroes, the only hope for salvation from this evil." She ruffled a few more pages, scanning their contents. "I don't want the entire history of these ugly buggers, dammit. I need the location of the fourth shard."  
  
The thunder of gunfire shattered the night's peace.  
  
Lara's head snapped up, dark orbs widening. *He's gotten his head blown off.*   
  
The Nephilim: Sins of Fallen Angels thunked forgotten at her booted feet.  
  
* * *  
  
The fading remnants of gunpowder seared his nostrils. He felt the bullet's passage, its violence parting the very air as it exploded the banister to his right. Mangled wood clattered at his feet.  
  
Kurtis surged forward, his fist thrusting the man's jaw, the Boran X now gripped one-handed. Bone gave way beneath his flesh, carmine liquid trickling unbidden over parted lips. The guard stumbled backward, weapon thrusting up, its barrel wavering against Kurtis' chest.  
  
He turned in a vicious spinning kick, his boot connecting solidly, lifting the man clean off his feet and flinging him backward.  
  
He slipped with a final gurgle down the wall at his back.  
  
"Sorry. But getting shot might ruin my plans." Kurtis whispered, crouching at the guard's inert side. "Nothing personal." A cold smile touched anger-whitened lips.   
  
In the distance, the patter of pursuing footsteps prompted Kurtis to his feet.   
  
"Lara." he breathed, the approaching figure sounding much too light on their feet for a man.  
  
For a moment he paused, cerulean gaze scrutinizing ambulant shadows, his gun-filled hand drooping limply at one side.  
  
Then, spinning, he sprinted into the encircling blackness.  
  
* * *  
  
She ran without thought, weapon at the ready, boots thrumming steadily in a beat much slower than the frantic pounding of her heart. She felt a sickness roiling within the depths of her gut, an image of crimson-painted steel rising in her mind as she barreled full-speed through dark hallways. The scent of death writhed in keen nostrils, its presence a fierce and malicious one even though conjured by her own imagination.  
  
Harsh breath penetrated the stillness, flowing ragged and torn into the night's embrace.   
  
*One shot. That's not good.* Two or more would have suggested a miss, that perhaps he'd gotten away unharmed. But only one...  
  
She pushed herself on faster, arms pumping, traversing shadow-strewn corridors at a speed enviable to an Olympic sprinter. The white-hot slick of perspiration traversed the softly curved arch of her back, kissing the hardness of a flexing spine.  
  
Muscles flamed in protest.  
  
Lara reached the stairs she'd first descended after emerging from the storage room, and flung herself up them, unconcerned with stealth now.  
  
  
  
He plunged the door free of its hinges in a single ferocious kick, and surged inside.   
  
The room's single occupant thrust upward in shock, one trembling hand lying to rest against worn upholstery. He clutched tightly at the chair he'd vacated only a moment before, standing tall and erect to face this unexpected threat.  
  
Kurtis aimed the barrel of his Boran X right between the man's eyes.  
  
Two gnarled hands lifted in acquiescence.  
  
The safety clicked off, thumbed by a single quivering finger.  
  
They contemplated one another for a moment, cerulean gaze merging with ebony. Their breaths flared to mingle as one, harsh and throaty, both gasped through trembling lips.   
  
Kurtis slipped his tongue along dry and chapped lips, keeping his strong two-handed grip on the Boran X.  
  
"Kurtis-"  
  
The Boran X thundered once, and the man dropped mid-sentence.  
  
He stumbled backward on legs gone weak, his pistol slipping from perspiration-slick fingers, both eyes fluttering. He sank willingly against the wall at his back, blinking for a moment at the gore-coated desk before him, mahogany wood painted grisly carmine.  
  
Only his own ragged breath filled the room now, its presence permeating the thick silence.  
  
From the direction of the staircase, pounding footsteps erupted.  
  
* * *  
  
She discovered him minutes later, head sunk upon his chest, eyes fluttering, his pistol lying in silent wait at booted feet.   
  
Lara froze just within the doorway, dark orbs widening on the scene, keen gaze flitting over the office's interior, its bookcases and tidy desk in direct contrast to the grisly visage lying prone only a few feet away. The stench of blood wafted to curl sensitive nostrils against its unpleasantness, its bitter metallic tang settling thick within the warmth of her mouth.  
  
She took a cautious step inside, holstering her weapon as she tread silently over gory carpeting to his slumped figure.  
  
He thrust up a hand.  
  
She ignored this indication to keep back and took his arm in an iron grip, bending to retrieve the discarded pistol.  
  
"This wasn't on the menu tonight, Kurtis." Lara observed quietly. She hefted the Boran X in one hand, and reached across the taut muscles of his abdomen to holster it.  
  
He stirred against her, but his eyes remained closed.   
  
Her lithe curves pressed close to his hard body, the sensation a familiar and strangely comforting one, the heat lent by her nearness instantly warming him. The labored breaths slipping from between parted lips slowly halted, losing their desperation, flowing more easily now.  
  
"You're hurt."  
  
"No." he grunted, and shifted away from her.  
  
She placed a hand lightly against his shoulder. "Who was he?"  
  
"Luther Rouzic."  
  
She pulled back a little, startled, her eyes surging once more to the nearby corpse. "So when you said you weren't on very good terms with the man, what you meant was you had some sort of murderous rage toward him and decided to trick me into thinking that there might be helpful information here so you could get a shot at him."  
  
"He helped Eckhardt kill my father. He betrayed his oldest friend and got him murdered."  
  
"Is revenge all you Yanks think about?"  
  
His lips curved briefly, taut and whitened by pain. "And sex."  
  
"Charming. Are you going to stand there all night until the guards come and pick us up? I escaped jail once, you know, and I'm not about to have gone to all that trouble just to get tossed in the slammer for a crime you committed."  
  
"We still need information on the 4th shard."  
  
"Then that wasn't a story you sold me just to off the old man?"  
  
"I didn't need your help killing him."  
  
"That's obvious."   
  
"Start looking. We don't have a lot of time. There are still a couple of guards wandering around. They might have heard the gun shot."  
  
Her fingers tightened against his shoulder. "Are you all right?"  
  
Kurtis clutched reflexively for his aching stomach, unwavering azure orbs peeking upward through long dark lashes. I will be, as long as I don't get in any more fist fights with these pansy ass guards. He'd healed the wound inflicted by Boaz himself, using the limited occult powers taught to him by his father, and obviously done a rather shitty job of it. Strenuous physical activity seemed to agitate the injury lately, the agony roaring through his entire body as intensely as that moment cold steel had parted sinew and muscle, settling to rest inside him.  
  
"I'm fine." he replied, sensing her stare. "You look around in here. I'll take the stairs."  
  
"Right, so the cops can come in here and find me rifling casually through a dead man's desk. I don't think so."  
  
He arched both eyebrows. "Fine. I'll check in here, and you-"  
  
She plunged up a leather-sheathed hand, halting him mid-sentence. A slender finger descended to his parted lips, lightly brushing soft flesh. "Shh."  
  
He felt his heart take up a thundering beat against the solidity of his ribcage, thrumming unnaturally quick. Pissed at this reaction, he flung her hand away, a bit more forcefully than he'd intended.  
  
Lara glared at him.  
  
"What the hell are you doing?" Kurtis asked roughly.  
  
"I'm trying to figure out what that noise is, but it's a bit difficult with you yammering in the background. So, if you'd kindly shut up..."  
  
"What noise?"   
  
To his right, something scrabbled within the wall's interior, the harshness of fingertips traversing stone assaulting sensitive ears.   
  
They shared a look, both drawing their weapons without any prompting. "What the hell's going on?" Kurtis whispered, eyes narrowing.   
  
She stepped up beside him, softly rounded shoulder brushing his own broad one, each unconsciously drawing comfort from the other's presence. "I was hoping you might be able to tell me that. And also, I would appreciate it if I was holding my .45 and not this ridiculous little toy."  
  
The wall exploded, thrusting ancient stone all throughout the room, this shrapnel shredding flesh in its ferocity. Rippling dust spread as a thick blanket throughout the room, nearly sheathing Kurtis' view of the ragged hole blown in grimy brick.  
  
He squinted into descending blackness, and his eyes fell on their invading figures, dark fearsome creatures which surged through the opening.  
  
Cerulean orbs widened. *Fuck.*  
  
He jerked the Boran X around to target the first of their attackers, and fired.  
  
A/N 2: Hee hee. A cliffhanger. Dontcha' just love me? :D 


	5. Chapter Four

A/N: Thanks for your reviews, guys! :) Next chapter is done already. I'll probably put that one up tomorrow.  
  
Disclaimer: Tomb Raider is still not mine, nor are Lara Croft or Kurtis Trent. They belong to Eidos and (now) Crystal  
  
Dynamics. If you still don't comprehend the fact that I own nothing, I advise you to seek help. Immediately.  
  
Chapter Four  
  
Nephilim  
  
Strahov Archives  
  
Prague, August 8th, 2003  
  
They circled warily, evil intent glistening deep within swirling black madness. He sensed their hunger, a bloodlust which radiated from their very souls, the tang of death clinging thick to muscular bodies.  
  
Perspiring fingers tightened around cold steel, the Boran X surging from body to body, its bullets raining down upon them, penetrating bone and flesh. Kurtis shook renegade bangs from his eyes, backing toward the farthest wall as he fired. He darted a quick glance out of the corner of one eye, and his heart stilled for a single moment.  
  
She lay panting against the very wall toward which he retreated, pinned writhing against its mass by a brick shard pierced clean through the shapely muscle of her upper left arm. Its vicious touch dribbled gore down tanned and slick flesh, blood frothing and bubbling around its tip. Dark orbs held his own for a moment, frosted in agony.  
  
"Pay attention to what your doing, you dumb Yank!" she snapped through pain-whitened lips. Slender fingers reached for the dagger-like shard, bucking restlessly against its chill rough surface.  
  
Her eyes fluttered shut.  
  
Kurtis spun, snapped off a quick shot, and lunged toward her, the Boran X disappearing into worn leather. He touched a surprisingly gentle hand to her cheek, cupping soft flesh in the sanctuary of his palm.  
  
He slipped large strong fingers over her smaller ones, nudging her hand gently aside. "Hold still."  
  
Lara tensed against him. "Get off me and start shooting those ugly little things again."  
  
"I can't kill them. They're Proto Nephilim. Duplicates of the one that was eating people in the Sanitarium. Karel's been a busy boy." He eyed her. "This is going to hurt."  
  
"Really, like it hurt going in?"  
  
A scream ascended dust-thickened air, a primal call that perforated Kurtis' very soul, echoing within the deepest recesses of his mind. He felt something heavy upon him, its bulk pressed all along his back, tearing, shredding, frail material giving way to slashing claws.  
  
"Oh fuck." he murmured.  
  
She grasped the stone binding her to chill brick and yanked.  
  
Kurtis swayed on his feet, reaching with another muttered curse for his weapon.  
  
The Nephilim leapt.  
  
Lara thrust herself off the wall in a single mighty shove, the brick shard out before her, its edge piercing sinew and muscle, her impressive strength ramming it deep. Gore exploded outward, painting sun-darkened flesh, hissing as it steamed within the crevices of her skin.  
  
She gasped and stumbled backward, clutching her injured arm in a bloody hand.  
  
"The window." Kurtis said, and indicated the single pane of glass located just behind Luther Rouzic's desk.  
  
She hefted the desk chair in both hands, muscles bunching beneath this added weight, wound flaming in protest. At her side, Kurtis dropped into combat stance. The Chirugai hummed to life, its illumination playing over clenched features.  
  
Kurtis curled powerful fingers in the holes pocking the Chirugai's exterior, and the weapon snapped open in his palm.  
  
Lara heaved the chair.  
  
The Chirugai spun out and away from its owner, responding to Kurtis' unspoken order, maneuvering past Lara's perspiring face to hack the swiping limb from a nearby Nephilim.  
  
She ducked beneath the spray of broken glass against tender, exposed flesh.  
  
Tinkling shards settled to rest at her booted feet, this glittering river lying silver and glistening across a rusted sill.  
  
*This is the second time I've had to escape out a window in the past few days.*  
  
Lara spun, and leapt for the sill, scrambling out into driving precipitation. She felt the warmth of his hand present within the small of her back, the heat of his body directly behind her as she rolled clear of broken glass.  
  
The roof lay slick and treacherous beneath her. She skidded over its surface, both arms backpedaling for balance.  
  
*Flashback*  
  
Its bulk hovered above her, the helicopter's rotors whipping chill and damp air. Her lithe and shivering figure jerked beneath the wind's ferocious touch, head bowed as though in deference to the tempest raging overhead.  
  
To her left, bullets sparked off the rooftop.  
  
She felt the heat of their guns, the fading remnants of gun smoke searing sensitive nostrils.  
  
Mahogany orbs slipped across the roof's surface, probing surrounding layers of darkness for some sanctuary, a safe haven in which she could take refuge.  
  
None.  
  
*End Flashback*  
  
Kurtis' fingers sought her own, twining surprisingly easily, something that caught her attention despite their dire situation. He tugged her behind him, sprinting across the Archive's surface, ducking as he ran. His gun swung freely in the other hand, sleek beneath pounding rainwater.  
  
The pain screamed through every nerve, brutal in its travel, thrusting her insides to violent fire. She trembled beneath its furious touch, legs buckling slightly beneath this cruel onslaught.  
  
Her arm lay wet and crimson beneath a layer of blood.  
  
"There's a ledge running along the side of the building. I'm going to swing you down. It's a good drop, but not one that's going to kill you."  
  
"How comforting." Lara replied.  
  
The harsh tramp of clawed feet rang out behind them.  
  
"Jump!" Kurtis yelled, and shoved her toward the roof's edge, still tightly grasping her.  
  
Her boots tread nothing but air for a single moment.  
  
He half-crouched, leaning out and over the side, thrusting her lithe body free of hard brick.  
  
She landed hard, falling panting against the wall for a moment, ragged breath heaving both slender shoulders.  
  
Above, his dark head dissipated into the night.  
  
She broke stride only for a moment, keen gaze surging upward to where she'd last glimpsed him. *He's going to get himself killed.*  
  
* * *  
  
The ebony fog of nighttime rose to claim him, a silent demon that clung like an eager lover to each hard curve. He carried the sheen of rainwater thick upon his body, its chill touch traversing shredded cotton to kiss exposed flesh.  
  
Kurtis surged onward, through undulating shadows, feet drumming a dissonant tune against the pavement.  
  
Their snorted breaths twined as one behind him, merging in a perverse dance.  
  
* * *  
  
Her numb fingers closed against solid steel.  
  
The ladder rattled beneath her urgency, protesting such maltreatment. Lara descended with a speed she'd never thought possible, her feet barely touching down before she'd already lowered them another rung.  
  
She'd discovered this escape route at the ledge's end, and silently thanked Kurtis for his foresight, hoping his sacrifice had not just cost him his life. The ground shimmered in silent wait below, its simplistic beauty marred only by a single parked car.  
  
Her newly-acquired wound burned with a ferocity that plunged the world to blackness before her. She felt the slick of bile rise to glaze her throat, disturbed stomach acids roiling in her gut.  
  
Above, the frightening sounds of pursuit transcended even the rain's cacophony.  
  
* * *  
  
He pushed himself on, faster, harder, muscles screaming, each breath agony. The Boran X bobbed at his side, long since holstered to increase his mobility. He skimmed trembling fingers across it now, lingering against the comforting heaviness. *How long could I hold them off with this? Long enough to knock a few down and get to my bike?*  
  
Pain burned a slow, torturous path to his stomach.  
  
Both knees buckled beneath him, skidding his muscular figure across the roof's glistening surface.  
  
He flipped onto his back, driving a fist up, feeling bone give way beneath his powerful hit as the Nephilim bore down upon him. With a shriek it withdrew, dancing backward from this gasping, bleeding visage, Kurtis' blood pattering from between gnashing teeth.  
  
He loosened his Chirugai.  
  
His fingers glistened wetly beneath his own spilled gore, crimson thick upon them even as the tempest raging overhead sought to purify flesh. He groped weakly for his Glaive, latching onto a corner and ripping it free of the belt circling his hard waist.  
  
They came for him in an ever-tightening circle.  
  
Blood lust hung thick within the taut atmosphere. He sensed its presence all around, descending heavy and menacing against his weakened body.  
  
The Chirugai clattered to hard pavement.  
  
Both palms snapped open, long thick lashes fluttering as the power gathered and built within him. He felt it roiling just below the surface, its yearning to be free humming throughout him.  
  
His lips parted in a final deep breath.  
  
They surged over him, and the power exploded through his fingertips, hurling the deadly creatures off rain-slick rooftop. They scattered all about him, flung backward by this incredible force, falling prey to Kurtis' strange abilities.  
  
"Take that, motherfuckers." he whispered.  
  
The rain cooled errant rivers of bodily fluids with a light hiss of protest at such grisly work. He watched the blood stream in ribbons from his shattered body, blurred into incongruous lines by hazy vision.  
  
*Why am I always the one getting injured? In the short time I've known this woman, I've been impaled, kicked off that platform in the Vault of Trophies, knocked unconscious, shot, and now clawed by ugly goddamn smelly little bastards which Karel is no doubt planning to take over the world with.*  
  
He shook his head slowly, dark hair rustling over damp cement.  
  
"Jesus Christ." Kurtis murmured, and coughed, this harsh exhalation jarring his entire body. He pushed himself slowly upright, trembling legs twitching restlessly for a moment before settling to a shaky rest beneath him.  
  
He clutched his hard abdomen with one hand and stumbled forward a few steps, bent over at the waist in a fruitless attempt to quell the rising pain.  
  
Below, he perceived the screech of tires struggling for purchase against sleek and moist roads.  
  
"Sounds like our new friends aren't done yet." he said, and broke into a faltering run.  
  
* * *  
  
She surged panting through ambulant shadows, arms pumping at either side, booted feet disturbing pooling rainwater as she sprinted into the night's embrace.  
  
Ahead, his motorcycle gleamed in silent wait, bathed only in the effulgent light of the moon. But of Kurtis himself there was no indication, and she chanced a quick glance over her shoulder at the darkened exterior of the Strahov Archives.  
  
No movement.  
  
*I don't have time to wait for him.* she thought, ignoring the sickening pang this revelation thrust throughout her. The Nephilim had apparently been only the first wave of Lara and Kurtis' new friends, accompanied by men armed with automatics in a dark vehicle. She heard the thrum of its exhaust, the searing stench of burned rubber rising over the purity of falling rainwater.  
  
*He's probably dead anyway.* The thought did not comfort her, did not lessen the sting of her abandonment any. She should at least go back, see his body with her own eyes, not just roar off into the night to save her own ass, and on his bike no less.  
  
His image danced before her, sarcastic smirk in place, dark locks tousled ruggedly, lending a sexiness to cold and hard features. The intensity of those cerulean orbs perused her with such precision that for a moment she imagined him standing before her, smiling and holding out a hand...  
  
*I'm sorry, Kurtis.*  
  
She swallowed hard against the sudden lump crusting the interior of her throat, and vaulted alone and weaponless onto his motorcycle.  
  
*Only your survival matters. There isn't enough time to worry about anyone else.* a voice whispered within the deepest recesses of her mind. She had hardened after her experience in Egypt, become colder, less caring, less tolerant. And yet she knew this voice was not correct, that if this man perished tonight because of her, the knowledge would fester forever as an irreparable wound.  
  
Deftly, Lara hot-wired his machine, the bike awakening beneath her in a masculine growl which penetrated her entire body.  
  
She glanced up, squinting into thrashing precipitation, just in time to see the pursuing vehicle round a corner. Its headlights glowed against her for a single moment, edging lithe curves in brilliance.  
  
She kicked the bike into gear, and wrenched it around hard.  
  
The tires screamed for one terrifyingly drawn-out moment, brackish water ascending the sky in protest. She felt a breath catch and freeze within the confines of her throat, then slip with relief through full lips as the tires gripped damp pavement. It lurched forward, straight for her attackers, front tire rising into the air before touching down once more.  
  
Lara hunched low over soaking handlebars, dark orbs converging on the oncoming van.  
  
A grim smile touched full lips.  
  
They rushed headlong toward one another, neither altering their path. She held the bike steady, gritting her teeth against the flaming agony in her left arm, clutching tight to the motorcycle's comforting bulk as the distance closed.  
  
Twenty feet. Fifteen. Ten. Five.  
  
At the last possible moment, Lara swerved, sending the bike into a long skid up onto a nearby sidewalk, surging up and over glistening pavement. It fishtailed, whipping her precariously over the narrow seat, slender figure swaying with this violent motion. She wrestled for control once more, urging the faithful bike on to higher speeds, weaving it amongst shadow-bathed lampposts, this skillful maneuvering throwing her pursuers off for a moment.  
  
And now the peaceful serenity shattered beneath the vicious call of flying bullets, the ferocity of their movement chewing hard brick to Lara's left.  
  
* * *  
  
Above, he staggered bleeding and limping to the Archive's edge.  
  
"Hey, crazy bitch, what the hell are you doing with my bike?" Kurtis murmured, narrowing cold eyes against the dramatic scene far below.  
  
The dissonant thunder of gunfire reverberated within his ears. He shifted a hand against his throbbing abdomen, scowling as their bullets sparked against pavement mere inches from Lara and his precious baby.  
  
*She better hope they kill her if anything happens to my motorcycle.* Kurtis thought, but his concern was not aimed entirely toward the sleek machine; most of it, in fact, rested with the woman perched aboard, fear rising thick within him as she hunched low to avoid their deadly fire.  
  
The squeal of tires transcended the ricochet of bullets.  
  
His gaze never strayed, cold and hard despite the worry swirling inside, nothing revealed within cerulean orbs that indicated any emotion whatsoever.  
  
He inhaled deeply, and stepped over the side.  
  
* * *  
  
The night air grasped for his tumbling figure, the shredded remnants of his T-shirt billowing around hard muscles. He lifted his chin against this rush of chill air, its ferocity drawing tears free of squinting eyes. Rain swirled harder, more frantically around him, nipping at exposed skin, traversing torn and destroyed flesh. His arms windmilled behind him, clawing automatically for handholds, nothing but cold and damp air slipping between perspiring fingers.  
  
His boots thrust against solid pavement, pitching him forward into the railing encircling the balcony he'd instinctively aimed for in his well-timed jump. The harsh impact plunged a breathy gasp from between chapped lips, expelling all breath from Kurtis' body.  
  
He grasped chill metal for a moment, leaving his body draped across the railing, gasping and shivering beneath the rain's frigid touch.  
  
A single exclamation raised his bowed and dripping head. He blinked once, peering through layers of darkness toward the street still far below.  
  
His name rent the air in a single cry.  
  
He blinked again, and his gaze surged to the motorcycle and its rider. As he watched, Lara thrust the bike into a sharp skid, one foot darting out to skim pavement as it spun 360 degrees to face the direction she'd come.  
  
"Kurtis!"  
  
He lifted a hand in a weak two-fingered salute. "Present." he whispered, a smile briefly touching tightly clamped lips. *Time to go.* Azure orbs analyzed the distance from his temporary sanctuary to the street glistening below. *Still too far.*  
  
Lara screeched to a long halt directly below him.  
  
"What the hell. You only live once." Kurtis said with a shrug, and hoisted himself over the railing.  
  
* * *  
  
He thrust both hands up as he fell, palms laid bare to the raging elements.  
  
Ten feet below, the canvas awning once lying broken and mangled from abuse against the Archive's side now sprang outward, bucking in protest as his plunging body landed heavily against its saturated top.  
  
A disturbing crack filled his sensitive ears, followed by the shriek of parting steel.  
  
Kurtis' eyes widened. "Oh fuck. This is gonna' hurt."  
  
But this abrupt halt of his motion, however momentary, had been enough to cushion the inevitable landing. He sagged gratefully to waiting blacktop, both knees almost giving before he pushed himself upright and stumbled the final few feet to Lara and his bike.  
  
He drew his gun as he half-staggered toward her, steadying it with both hands and squeezing off a few rounds in the direction of their foe.  
  
"About time you showed up, Kurtis." Lara yelled. She worked to carefully conceal any relief at his sudden appearance, cloaking this unwelcome emotion beneath an air of indifference.  
  
"Just shut up and drive, Croft." he snapped coldly, the harshness of his voice sheathing his own intense flash of relief at seeing her still in one piece. "And if anything happens to my bike..." He trailed off, letting this unfinished sentence imply threats he knew would never be carried out, at least not against this woman, by his hand.  
  
"Don't piss yourself. It'll make a nasty mess." she retorted, revving the engine.  
  
Kurtis cinched a muscular arm around her small waist. "Less talk, more driving, Lara." he whispered close beside her ear, mouth grazing the tender flesh of her ear lobe.  
  
"Less orders, more shooting, Kurtis."  
  
The bike surged forward, thrusting him against her, his body molding to each lithe curve. He gripped her tightly, raising the Boran X in his left hand, both cerulean orbs converging on its sights as the dark vehicle spun a tight circle. It thundered once, and the windshield frosted over in an intricate spider web.  
  
He smiled as the van careened wildly up onto the sidewalk, a devastating crunch ascending the night sky, its hood thrusting upward in response to the impact against a solid brick wall.  
  
The Boran X disappeared into worn leather.  
  
Kurtis twisted at the waist to position himself comfortably at her back, both large hands slipping over the toned muscles of her stomach to rest lightly against the warmth of her flesh.  
  
"Are our little playmates out of the game?" she called back to him.  
  
"Down for the count." he responded, the low sexy tone of his voice prompting a shiver down her spine.  
  
"So soon, too. A bloody shame."  
  
He smiled into the satin cord of her hair, turning his cheek to rest it against the bare skin of her neck, bending with Lara to keep the wind's chilling ripple off his body. The heat of her nearness seared every inch of him, a fire like molten lava flaming throughout every nerve. It was a vaguely disturbing sensation, and yet one he did not wish to draw away from, choosing instead to revel for a moment in this feeling that no woman had ever invoked in him before. Later, he could ignore this fierce attraction, pretend it never happened, put up his carefully-crafted wall once more.  
  
They drove in silence, the restored tranquillity settling to gently embrace both, their breaths drawn in unison as damp and shimmering pavement scrolled beneath the motorcycle's humming tires.  
  
Her scent assaulted his nostrils, a pleasant, tantalizing fragrance which he could not quite place, this new aroma intoxicating as he breathed its sweetness.  
  
*Flashback*  
  
Her supple body burned warm beneath the teasing caress of his wandering fingertips, tense and hard against him as he pressed her to his chest. His hand curved over hers, their fingers twining for a single moment as he snagged her gun.  
  
It clattered loudly to hard tile.  
  
A slight smirk curled smug lips. His hand slowly, lethargically traversed the soft curve of her shapely hip, brushing the now-empty holster strapped to Lara's right thigh. She shifted lightly against him, and he pressed the tip of his gun more firmly into her neck. One finger stroked the trigger guard, but did not slip to the trigger itself.  
  
He moved now to her abdomen, dipping the callused pads of his fingers against the waistband of her camouflage pants, coarse material whispering against the work-roughened skin of his palm.  
  
*End Flashback*  
  
He recalled each detail with startlingly clarity, that moment in the Louvre one which had followed him even into his dreams. And when she had finally spun in his arms to face her attacker, he'd found his mind clouded with the sudden urge to lean in and kiss her. An absurd and idiotic instinct, particularly considering the circumstances, but it had existed nonetheless. He'd nearly done it, too, taken her mouth with his, tasted the tempting fullness of those lips, perhaps even dropped his gun to embrace her fully. She was a distraction, and distractions, in this line of work, were dangerous.  
  
But, much as Kurtis hated to admit it, she was intelligent, and strong, and the task of halting a rebirth of the Nephilim race would not be an easy one. He needed help, something he wasn't used to, and this woman seemed to be just the one to give it to him.  
  
*I'll just have to be careful. Make sure this stays completely business.*  
  
And what a load of bullshit that was. He knew keeping things strictly as 'business' would be the most difficult assignment of his life, particularly since he would be working in close proximity with Lara nearly every day until this mess was sorted out. He possessed extreme self-control, something he'd spent his entire life perfecting, and now this Croft woman was threatening to chuck everything he'd ever learned out the window with a haughty toss of one hand.  
  
She swayed in his arms, tearing Kurtis from his reverie. He took a firmer hold on her as their speed abruptly slackened, and said "Pull over," in a low and commanding voice.  
  
The bike hissed to a stop in the middle of the street, rainwater pluming from beneath its tires.  
  
Kurtis dismounted, striding around to face her, his finger probing the streaming wound in her shoulder. "This is bleeding too much."  
  
"I've had a lot worse than this during my career. I don't need you fawning over me like I'm dying or something." she snapped, pulling away from him. *I don't need your pity or sympathy.*  
  
"I'm not going to fawn over you, and you're not going to die. But you should have stopped the bleeding a while ago."  
  
"Hmm, and when would I have taken time to tie it off? After jumping over the side of a building or while I was making a getaway on a stolen bike from madmen trying to kill me?"  
  
"Hey, take it easy." Kurtis said, patting the air with both hands. He eyed her cautiously for a moment, then reached to tear a strip of material from his slashed T-shirt.  
  
She swung a leg stiffly over the motorcycle's bulk, facing him now as he stepped nearer to her. "How chivalrous. You're giving me the shirt off your own back. I never realized you were such a gentleman, Kurtis."  
  
"Not much left of it anyway."  
  
"Yes, I noticed."  
  
He peered upward through thick dark lashes as he bound her arm, amusement flickering for a moment in the depths of his unwavering gaze.  
  
"I didn't mean your manly physique was arousing me, so you don't have to look so smug."  
  
"Thought never crossed my mind."  
  
"I'm sure."  
  
He shook his head, and deftly knotted the makeshift tourniquet.  
  
Lara eased both gloved hands onto shapely knees, entire body slouching in sudden fatigue. "Your the leader of this little excursion. Where to now? We still have no information on the location of the 4th shard. And not to offend your taste in slums, but I hate this city. My first visit was enough for me, and now after being chased by ugly, unkillable monsters and even uglier, more persistent men, I've decided Prague has secured a permanent place on my shit list."  
  
"Prague has no special place in my heart either." He limped to his motorcycle and carefully seated himself beside her, easing himself gently to soft leather. "Only my father knew of the 4th shard's existence, until now. But I'm not sure even he knew where it was hidden. I was sure we'd find something useful in the Archives."  
  
"But that was until we had to stage a rather dramatic escape. There could have been useful information, and we just didn't have enough time to collect it."  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"So, you got any bright ideas?"  
  
He lifted both eyebrows. "Dim ones, maybe. No bright ones."  
  
"I've found that most men are filled with dim ideas. The light bulb is usually a bit dusty in the average male brain."  
  
Kurtis smirked. "Nice."  
  
"I'm glad you agree with me."  
  
"I wasn't-"  
  
"Agreeing with me? Right. I'm sure in your heart of hearts you were silently nodding in approval to my observation of the male psyche."  
  
"This is cute, Lara, but we don't have time to sit around trading insults. Karel must be stopped before he brings the entire Nephilim race back into existence. Those Proto Nephilim jackasses back at the Archives proved he's already starting."  
  
"Yes, the whole 'save the world' plot again." Lara sighed, reaching to stroke away the beginnings of a raging headache. "I've played this game before. Many times."  
  
His gaze shifted stealthily to her hunched figure, treading silver-edged features, settling to rest on full lips for a moment before hastily surging on. "The brotherhood of the Lux Veritatis were warriors of the Nephilim, sworn to forever combat their evil."  
  
"Yes, and since you're the last of the order, it falls on you to stop Karel. I've heard this song and dance before, Kurtis." She paused, peering off into the distance, a swirling darkness suddenly present within steely eyes. "I hung up my pistols a long time ago. Until the whole business in Paris a few months ago, that is."  
  
Kurtis stiffened at her words, wary that she had now decided to turn her back on him and part ways.  
  
Beautiful dark orbs darted to his own, and their gazes held for a suspended moment in time. "I suppose it's time to dust them off again. Speaking of which, my .45 is still back at the Archives, and I blame you. You owe me a new gun. A nine-millimeter, semi-auto with a nice kick to it, I should think." She touched a finger to his chin, tilting it slightly so his brilliant gaze bore directly into her own. "That shouldn't be too hard for a person of your semi-legal character to acquire."  
  
"I'm touched you think so highly of me." he replied, with a little smirk, casually tugging his face from her fingertips, as though the move were one rendered without thought. He felt the familiar instinct rise within him, the same one he'd experienced in the Louvre during those few breathless seconds when they had contemplated one another through eyes frosted in lust and confusion. The same instinct which seemed to rear its ugly little head every time she merely brushed against him, an abrupt, urgent need to know her taste, the feel of soft lips on his own.  
  
*Stop it.* Kurtis commanded himself harshly.  
  
He moved her aside, and slid to straddle the bike once more, brandishing the ignition key. "My turn to drive. With a key, this time." he said, giving her a stern look.  
  
Lara lifted both hands in feigned innocence. "What did you expect me to do? You were AWOL, and I had a sneaking suspicion the men in that van didn't come bearing flowers and balloons."  
  
The motor roared to life, its throaty growl purring beneath him lending some semblance of calm to his turbulent thoughts.  
  
Above the machine's masculine call, the ominous growl of an approaching creature wafted to kiss waiting ears.  
  
Lara's hands closed hard around his muscular waist. "These again? I thought you'd gotten rid of them!"  
  
He shook clinging bangs from his eyes, and kicked the bike into gear. 


	6. Chapter Five

A/N: Next chapter. Enjoy. Comments appreciated.  
  
Disclaimer: Still not mine. Chapter title courtesy of the awesome song by Trapt.  
  
Chapter Five  
  
__________________________________________________________________________  
  
Headstrong  
  
Coffee House  
  
Prague, August 9th, 2003  
  
She stood just within the entrance of the homey little cafe,` its heat warming chill flesh, soothing the goosebumps pimpled against otherwise unblemished skin. The raging storm outside, unrelenting in its violence, had left her saturated and trembling in the brief moments she'd dashed from the shelter of a nearby shop to this quaint little building.  
  
Black lycra encased a well-rounded and distinctly feminine body, clinging to each soft curve, pausing just shy of dark shorts. Both shapely arms protruded bare and glistening from the sleeveless top, marred only by the bandage fixed over her new injury, Kurtis' shirt piece long since replaced.  
  
The door slipped closed behind her.  
  
Her new attire, purchased only an hour or so before along with several other necessities, lay heavy and damp against supple curves. *Hardly proper clothes for this shitty weather.* Lara thought. *But proper tomb-raiding apparel.*  
  
She tread the polished wood floor with hardly a sound, boots slipping unnoticed across hard planking.  
  
After a quick detour to the front counter to order coffee, she slipped into the farthest booth, grateful for its comfort.  
  
She perused the shop through narrowed eyes, feeling distinctly vulnerable without the familiar weight of a handy pistol or two strapped to her thighs. *Kurtis still owes me a weapon. And he'd better deliver, or I'm going to think up some really nasty form of torture.*  
  
The thought of the enigmatic Lux Veritatis initiate flushed high cheekbones in crimson brilliance, particularly after the event which had taken place earlier that morning.  
  
They'd sought refuge in an abandoned apartment building the previous night, tired of running and in dire need of rest. The Nephilim had lost their trail and passed harmlessly on, leaving both grateful adventurers to slumber.  
  
They'd slept beside one another, for nothing other than the benefit of the other's body heat, both keeping their respectful distance. *The distance didn't stay 'respectful' though.* Lara thought darkly, with a scowl. Upon awakening, she'd discovered, to her great chagrin and embarrassment, her entire body snuggled up against Kurtis,' their legs comfortably entangled, both of his strong and toned arms draped almost protectively across her lithe figure.  
  
And his reaction to this...for a moment she'd entertained the thought that someone had snuck up behind him and jabbed a hot poker into his back, given the way he jerked immediately away.  
  
But for one single moment, she'd glimpsed the true Kurtis in those beautiful thick-lashed eyes, the cold and artfully crafted wall normally blocking all emotions dissipating in that second of confusion.  
  
It was a slip he wouldn't make again, Lara knew.  
  
A steaming mug settled into place before her.  
  
She cupped this offering in grateful hands, touching full lips to its rim for a cautious sip.  
  
Burning liquid descended her throat, its torturous path rousing tears to blinking eyes for a second. The initial discomfort passed in a moment, and she savored its warmth, curling wisps of steam kissing cold flesh.  
  
The shop's door burst open in a swirl of rain and blackness.  
  
She didn't bother studying this broad-shouldered figure. She sensed his presence in the confident stride, glimpsing dark tousled hair out of the corner of one eye.  
  
He tossed a sheaf of papers down in front of her. A newspaper, she realized.  
  
His weight settled in beside her, their thighs brushing in a casual move which seemed extremely intimate to her.  
  
"Drinking the real stuff, huh." Kurtis commented, indicating her coffee.  
  
"Yes. None of that pansy flavored crap."  
  
*He smells good. Not at all like you'd expect a smoker to smell.* She quickly admonished herself for that thought, and shifted away from him.  
  
His hard body was completely sheathed from prying eyes today, no tantalizing glimpses of his broad sexy back revealed through shredded material. The slashed white T-shirt had been exchanged for a new black one, paired with a pair of pants which resembled the ones he'd worn during their adventures in Paris a few months ago. *They fit him well.* she thought. Then, a second later, *Dammit!*  
  
"Front page." He tapped it with his finger, and clamped a cigarette between his teeth, patting himself down in search of a lighter.  
  
She absently reached over and slipped it from between his lips, keen eyes perusing the newsprint.  
  
"What the hell?" Kurtis demanded, making a grab for the slender object.  
  
"Bad habit, you know. You should quit."  
  
"You should stay out of my business. It's not your choice whether I smoke or not."  
  
"Yes, but it is my choice to let you tag along, and I'd rather not be prancing around with some big ape who reeks of smoke."  
  
Kurtis arched both thick eyebrows, and slammed his hand down on the paper, directly over the line she'd been reading.  
  
Her eyes sought his own. "Do you mind?"  
  
"Give me back my cigarette."  
  
Lara dangled it smartly before him, with an infuriating smirk. "Take your hand off my paper then."  
  
"It's not your paper. I bought it."  
  
"Yes, and then you threw it down in front of me and told me to read the front page. That indicated that you were relinquishing ownership of it."  
  
"And did I do that with my cigarette? No." he replied, the first sharpness she'd ever perceived in this casual and unshakable man appearing in his somewhat irritable tone.  
  
*Someone got up on the wrong side of bed today.*  
  
It was a childish move, rendered more out of a wish to further aggravate him than because she wanted him to quit slowly killing himself.  
  
Coarse paper slipped with a quiet whisper across full lips, it's passage tracked by startled cerulean orbs. His gaze surged to twine as one with her own, slightly less angry now, the curtain settling over those beautiful eyes once more, as though Kurtis realized he'd lost control unnecessarily. Full lips curved in a slight smile, the expression doing nothing to sheath the triumph swirling within thick-lashed orbs.  
  
Lara smirked again, and deftly slipped his cigarette down the front of her tank top.  
  
Kurtis followed its progress, his eyes lingering against her ample chest, as though he could maneuver the stolen cigarette from her body through telekinesis, much the same way he manipulated his Chigurai.  
  
Her hand slipped over his atop the paper, and squeezed unnaturally hard.  
  
His gaze returned to her face.  
  
"And please, no attempts to retrieve it. You seem to be a man of fair intelligence, Kurtis, and I think we both know a move like that would be very, very unwise."  
  
He smirked. "Who said I wanted to stick my hand down there anyway?" *Then again, who said I didn't?*  
  
"Bitch." he murmured, no fury present within his low voice. Then, removing his hand from where it lay beneath hers, he retrieved another cigarette from the right back pocket of his pants.  
  
"Bastard." she returned. "Smelly bastard." Lara amended, upon catching sight of the new tightly rolled paper object gripped in masculine fingers.  
  
He smirked around the cigarette, setting his lighter on top of the burnished wood tabletop. "Nice place."  
  
"Yes. No doubt a ruse to scare away the nasty dregs of society such as yourself."  
  
"Please, you're killing me with compliments."  
  
"Well if that's the case, I'll have to keep them coming."  
  
He refrained from replying, instead turning his attention on his smoke, the lighter flaming to life beneath his touch.  
  
" 'Luther Rouzic, keeper of the Strahov Archives for more than twenty years, found murdered late last night.' They certainly didn't waste any time, did they?"  
  
"Good news travels fast." Kurtis replied with a shrug. The lighter died into reluctant oblivion, the cigarette's end still untouched by its brilliance.  
  
She slipped a quick look sideways at him, dark gaze traversing the handsome, pensive planes of his face. "Anything on your mind?"  
  
"No." The reply came sharply, brusquely.  
  
She nodded thoughtfully. "I suspected as much."  
  
He glanced startled over at her, seeming vaguely surprised at the insult she'd just worked in so subtly. And as he perused her lovely face, Kurtis felt a growing admiration for this woman rising inside, even as a part of him warned that this admiration was not welcome, that as a strictly 'business' relationship there was no room for admiration, and certainly not for lust.  
  
The air hung thick between them, a sizzling magnetism present within the heavy atmosphere. A fleeting image of the Louvre skittered briefly throughout her mind, this scene disturbingly familiar in the closeness of his face and the soft fan of his breath against her cheek.  
  
He slipped a hand across one softly rounded shoulder, fingertips grazing satin flesh. His palm cupped the back of her neck, twining within the thick braid falling as burnished copper down the curve of Lara's back.  
  
She swallowed hard.  
  
His other hand released its claim on the fresh cigarette he clutched, and drifted lightly over the taut and tanned muscles of her abdomen. She felt its weight settle reluctantly against her right hip, curving possessively around a lithe and slender waist.  
  
They leaned in as one, breaths mingling, long lashes cloaking desire-fogged orbs.  
  
His scent assaulted her senses, a masculine aroma entirely his own. It lingered tantalizingly within flaring nostrils, its presence thrusting chills all throughout her.  
  
She could nearly taste him, so close were they now. His breath surged warm and comforting over her face, its sweetness testament to the peppermint he'd apparently just consumed. *Maybe he planned this, and took a breath mint so his dragon fumes wouldn't frighten me off.* Lara thought vaguely.  
  
She touched both leather-sheathed palms to his strong shoulders.  
  
His eyes slipped closed.  
  
*This is a public place, too. What will you do for an encore, Mr. Trent? Throw me down on the table and ravage me, you naughty man?*  
  
Her fingertips dug harshly into the flesh beneath his T-shirt.  
  
Kurtis jerked in surprise, both eyes flying open, cerulean gaze slightly lethargic.  
  
Lara smiled, and placed her mouth close to his ear. He tensed automatically, shaking away this spell she seemed to have momentarily placed him under, prepared to tear himself away the moment her lips brushed his skin.  
  
They never did.  
  
"I told you, I don't kiss smokers." Lara whispered almost conspiratorially, and removed his hand from where it still lay now rigid against the smooth flesh of her stomach.  
  
"You had something in your eye." Kurtis replied coolly.  
  
"Did I? Well, thank you very much for attempting to save me from such a horrible affliction." she responded dryly.  
  
He rose abruptly, collecting his lighter and discarded cigarette.  
  
"Where the hell are you going?"  
  
"I've got a few errands to run."  
  
"And how am I going to know where to find you?"  
  
"Same apartment. The one we spent the night in. We'll camp out there again." He lit his smoke this time, and inhaled deeply.  
  
"Really. Well, maybe you enjoy sleeping in a crumbling old derelict building, but I'd prefer a hotel room."  
  
"Better if we keep low. Whoever came after us in the Strahov Archives will be keeping an eye on any motels in town. I'm not keen on another showdown with those damn Nephilim. But if you happen to have an extra Periapt Shard on you, then you're welcome to find a place more satisfactory to your taste."  
  
The heat of rage warmed her body, its flame igniting within each limb. "Don't be a dickhead. You wouldn't like dealing with me when I'm angry."  
  
He returned her gaze coldly. "See you at home, *sweetheart*."  
  
"Not if I put a boot to your head and knock you unconscious for being an impudent little asshole." Lara snapped, crossing both arms over her chest.  
  
He seemed to be pondering a reply to this threat, then suddenly pivoted on a heel and stalked toward the door without so much as a "Good-bye" or even a stream of obscenities.  
  
She resisted the urge to hurl her mug at his stupid, pointy, extremely irritating little head. *It wouldn't do any good.* Lara thought furiously.  
  
* * *  
  
Lab Cambodia, August 9th, 2003  
  
Its bulk quivered minutely, bound to chill steel by leather straps.  
  
Pallid flesh snapped upward to reveal ebony orbs frosted in death, thin colorless lips parting in a single soundless scream.  
  
Mucus frothed to shrieking lips, bubbling over a sturdy chin, clotted phlegm crusting a hooked nose. The creature arched its back, spine flexing, each bone settling reluctantly into place.  
  
Joachim Karel watched impassively, his apathetic features reflected in the creature's sightless gaze.  
  
The foaming mucus churned to brilliant carmine as a blood vessel ruptured, its life-giving liquid mingling as one with saliva.  
  
Death's shroud lifted from the spasming figure.  
  
Frantic eyes rolled to contemplate the room's only other occupant, standing silent and motionless just before it.  
  
A slight smile twitched cold lips.  
  
Gore exploded upward from the creature's mouth, splashing hot and scalding against exposed flesh. It writhed anxiously against the table's coldness, crying out through blood-glazed lips.  
  
"Welcome." Joachim Karel said, and reached to free it.  
  
* * *  
  
She watched his sleeping figure, the strong chest rising and falling with each gentle inhalation. His features lay bathed in moonlight, softened in slumber, almost idyllic, boyish in sleep. With those keen indigo eyes sheathed by smooth flesh, Lara felt she could almost completely relax. Their intensity carefully concealed, unseen now by her vigilant gaze. She felt powerful, in control, these emotions ones usually present inside her.  
  
But in wake, those eyes held a power over her, one that she was coming to passionately dislike. Hate, even. No one had ever invoked such feelings in her before, rendered her nearly helpless with only a touch.  
  
*I hate it.* she thought savagely, glaring at his slumbering body. *I hate him.*  
  
And yet she knew she did not, that hate would be the last adequate word to describe her feelings toward him. This enigmatic man whom had already shared one of her more frightening and exhilarating adventures intrigued her. His brooding, the coldness he preferred to exhibit, and those goddamned eyes piqued her natural curiosity. Perhaps that was why she found herself so attracted to him; curiosity, an attribute which Lara had never been without, her entire life.  
  
He remained a mystery, untouchable, much the same as the tombs and ancient cities she'd once scoured with a passion she'd never before experienced for a human being. Exploring, discovery. These had once been her great loves, and no man had ever come close to taking their place in her heart.  
  
Kurtis sighed quietly, and shifted in sleep.  
  
Lara perched close beside him, taking care that no part of their bodies touched. *I'd rather not have a repeat of yesterday morning.*  
  
His heat warmed her, its fervor settling lightly against cold flesh and instantly banishing all traces of the surrounding damp and chill. She wanted to touch him, stroke the renegade bangs lying soaked across the curve of his forehead.  
  
Her fingertips stretched outward, almost without thought on her part.  
  
Then, with a scowl, Lara jerked her gloved hand back, with such violence anyone watching might have suspected he'd burned her. Nothing good had ever come of bodily contact between Lara Croft and Kurtis Trent.  
  
* * *  
  
*Flashback*  
  
He entered cautiously, Boran X gripped two-handed, cerulean orbs narrowed in intense concentration. His gaze probed surrounding shadows for sign of danger, not a single corner escaping their thorough scrutiny.  
  
His father's study lay in disarray.  
  
The door swung mangled and dented from rusting hinges, this ominous squeak the only sound permeating near-silence.  
  
Kurtis felt the thrumming of his heartbeat quicken, its frantic pounding drumming now with a violence that shuddered his entire ribcage. The thick acidity of bile rose within the warmth of his mouth.  
  
He glided forward, weapon at the ready, a churning sickness roiling in his gut.  
  
Glass cracked beneath his boots, each shard exploding with the viciousness of a fired gun. Grasping wind flowed through the shattered window, its covetous touch swirling around him.  
  
He lay pale and motionless, his prone body partially cloaked by the over- turned desk. Carmine liquid twined full lips, traversing a strong chin to pool in the hollow of his throat.  
  
Wide verdant orbs contemplated Kurtis as he dropped slowly to trembling knees.  
  
The Boran X clattered forgotten to blood-stained wood.  
  
Kurtis reached numbly to close his father's sightless eyes, fingers bucking and trembling violently. He swallowed hard around the lump crusting his throat, eyeing this man so familiar to him in life, the unmoving figure now nearly a stranger, so mutilated was it. This was not his father, this grisly visage before him, its neck bent at an odd angle, body ravaged and violated by ferocious hands. His father's lips lay against stark white skin, discolored and knotted in a final scream of horror. And his chest...his broad, muscular chest, marked by angry red slashes where nails had bitten deep, grazing the internal organs.  
  
Tears were foreign to Kurtis Trent. There had never been any, not since he was a very small child. He'd trained himself against any such weakness, concealing anguish behind cold blue eyes and an empty smirk.  
  
But they came now, silent, swift, tracing stubble-roughened cheekbones to linger salty and hot against parted lips. Both strong shoulders bobbed in agony, dark bangs falling unchecked over tightly closed eyes as he sobbed noiselessly.  
  
The grief surged unrelenting throughout him, tearing at his insides, vicious in its travel. He clenched both damp palms to hard fists, head bowed over the desecrated corpse of his father.  
  
Then, with a sudden and explosive "Fuck!" Kurtis surged to his feet, snatching up his weapon as he leapt upright. He peered through tear-dampened lashes, their weight resting heavy against his cheekbones.  
  
The grief slowly dissipated, dwindling into oblivion, replaced now by a rage unlike any he'd ever known. He kicked at a smashed desk chair, the powerful thrust of his boot hurling it several feet to splinter against a nearby wall.  
  
He spun, murder in those beautiful eyes, and slammed a fist into hard plaster.  
  
The crack reverberated in sensitive ears, the wall fractionating beneath his violence.  
  
He snapped the safety of his gun on, and jammed it into the holster at his side.  
  
His rage carried him through the small room, like a bulldozer, eliminating everything in his path. Hard wood cracked and gave in response to his vicious attacks. He spun, his fury not yet sated, both hands shredded and bleeding.  
  
He plunged the door free of its hinges in a single mighty kick.  
  
This at last seemed to slow him, and he propped himself, panting, against the wall, trembling all over. He inhaled several calming breaths, coaxing his ragged breathing back to normal levels.  
  
*I'm going to find who did this.*  
  
If need be, he'd spend the rest of his life hunting the motherfucker who'd done this to his father. And when he succeeded, he'd rain death and destruction down upon them, rip their throat out with his bare hands if he could.  
  
End Flashback  
  
He woke slowly, to the warmth of tears on his cheekbones.  
  
*What the hell?* Kurtis thought groggily, numbly swiping clinging liquid from his skin. He propped himself up on one elbow, squinting through sleep fogged eyes at his surroundings.  
  
A soft rustle erupted to his left.  
  
He rolled over, and his eyes settled on her peaceful face, beautiful features slack in rest. She lay a good distance away, obviously wary of a repeat performance of their little cuddling session yesterday morning. Her braid lay thick and glistening beneath a sheen of rainwater over one small shoulder, its brilliant copper highlighted by the moon's effulgence.  
  
Kurtis studied her a moment, experiencing a softness for another human being for the first time in his life. It was a strange protectiveness he felt toward her, an urgent need to keep her safe when he knew perfectly well she was more than capable of looking after herself. As a man accustomed only to watching his own back and not really giving a shit about others, this was a new and somewhat frightening emotion.  
  
*Next thing you know, I'm going to be proclaiming my love and begging her to marry me.* he thought scornfully, shaking his head and turning away.  
  
He reached for the bag he'd been using for a pillow, and yanked it into his lap.  
  
From the depths of his pack Kurtis withdrew a bent and weathered photograph, its edges lovingly worn by much handling. He held it gingerly, almost tentatively, examining handsome features similar to his own.  
  
The photo had been taken long ago, depicting a five-year-old Kurtis perched atop his father's knee, beaming excitedly into the camera. How long had it been since he'd worn such an exuberant expression? There hadn't been such unadulterated happiness present within that bright and shining cerulean gaze for many years.  
  
And since his father's death, the rage and darkness had built inside him, toughening an already hardened young man even further. He killed with less thought, and no remorse, dispatching his enemies with an almost unfeeling coldness. Only Eckhardt had awakened a spark within him, his father's murderer breathing life back into Kurtis' shut-away emotions more than anything else. Even Lara's appearance, and his attraction for her didn't make him feel as vividly as thoughts of Eckhardt still did.  
  
He stroked the callused pad of his fingertip across the photo's surface, eyes lingering a moment longer. Then, expelling a quiet breath through his lips, he returned it to his waiting pack once more.  
  
Lara stirred, and murmured something in slumber.  
  
Kurtis extracted a slender black object from the zippered front pocket of his bag, then tossed the heavy pack aside. He stood, and crossed to her sleeping figure.  
  
His gaze wandered slowly over the softly arched curve of her body, memorizing each detail, his nostrils flaring against the heady warmth of her scent. A shudder passed throughout her body, prompted by the chill air circulating throughout the old apartment.  
  
He crouched at her side, and lightly set a hand against the bare flesh of her shoulder.  
  
They were ill-equipped to deal with Prague's shitty weather, particularly in this drafty old place, and there were no blankets to be found. He'd searched the derelict building the night before precisely for that purpose, after seeing her shiver, and turned up empty-handed. Any furniture had been smashed nearly beyond recognition, any forgotten sheets or other bedding shredded beyond use. *Maybe I should have just rented a motel room. Those bastards are probably long gone, figuring we moved on to another city or something.*  
  
He hefted the object in his hand, and slipped it into the holster strapped to one shapely leg.  
  
"No more bitching about how I made you leave your gun behind, Lara." Kurtis whispered, lips curling slightly.  
  
The strong hand on her shoulder moved tentatively to her forehead, lightly brushing aside loose strands of hair.  
  
She shifted beneath his gentle touch, a sigh parting full lips.  
  
He pulled away, and rose, turning his back on her and striding toward the opening in the far wall. *So much for keeping this business.* Kurtis thought grimly, and vanished into the waiting night. 


	7. Chapter Six

A/N: Thanks for your reviews, guys. Wow, this thing is getting long! It's up to almost 67 pages on Microsoft Word already, and it's not even close to being finished. Next chapter is half-done, so that should be up without too long of a delay. Tell me what you think, please. :)  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em. I hope you can figure that out by now.  
  
Chapter Six  
  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
Derelict Apartment  
  
Prague, August 10th, 2003  
  
He was gone.  
  
Vanished, without a word to her, no indication of where he might have disappeared to. Only the faintest remnants of his scent lingered, an enticing mixture of soap and aftershave.  
  
His pack remained, however, giving the impression that he would be back. But the fact that he'd just taken off pissed her off to no end, a somewhat unexpected reaction that surprised Lara. *What the hell do I care if the damn fathead has gone off on his own?*  
  
The argument did nothing to lessen her feelings of abandonment, but the gun he'd slipped unnoticed into her holster did persuade her against putting a boot up his ass the moment he returned. *I'll just bloody his nose.*  
  
She rose now, muscles uncoiling painfully, stiff from long disuse. Her body ached fiercely, each twinge of protest testament to the hardness of the floor on which she'd spent the night.  
  
"And that damn Yank refused to get a bloody hotel room." she muttered, shaking her head and scowling. He'd truly earned her wrath this morning; mostly because she found herself in the mood to bitch at him, and he didn't even have the decency to hang around and bear the brunt of her obscenities.  
  
Scowling once more, Lara loosened the weapon strapped to her right thigh, and hefted it in a slender hand. Nine millimeter semi-auto; a Glock, to be specific. Light, concealable, an altogether nice little pistol. She preferred something with a bit heavier firepower, but this would do for now. It fit snugly within the depths of her palm, sleek metal glistening beneath dancing sunlight.  
  
The sunlight drew her attention for a moment, keen gaze surging to the far wall and the ragged hole streaming warm golden illumination. "Well, at least it isn't raining here all the time."  
  
*And Kurtis got me a rather nice gun. I suppose I can probably forgive him for being an annoying ass and making me like him even when I don't want to. After I bloody his nose.*  
  
Dark eyes fell now on the partially unzipped backpack he carried with him, and Lara's new firearm disappeared absently into worn leather. She crossed almost unbidden to the crumpled object, and crouched beside it.  
  
"He wouldn't have left this out if he didn't secretly want me going through it."  
  
It was a sneaky move, rendered out of a fierce need to know more about her mysterious companion. He would not be pleased, she knew, to return and find her rummaging about in his belongings. She, herself, for that matter, would have clubbed him upside the head had she caught him doing precisely what she herself now was. It was a breach in privacy, and thrust pangs of guilt briefly throughout her.  
  
She shoved them aside, and jerked the bag open. Its contents lay in darkness, the ill lighting in their temporary home lending little assistance. Impatient, Lara unclipped her flashlight and snapped it on, turning its beam on Kurtis' pack.  
  
*Clothes...chewing gum...that explains his good breath. 'You had something in your eye' my bloody ass. Little prick probably planned the whole thing, hoping he could cop a feel on me because he's been sex-deprived for years or something.*  
  
She rifled quickly through various items of clothing, tossing each aside.  
  
Searching fingertips brushed a cold and hard object. She palmed it, its chill exterior shivering her entire body.  
  
It rested cold and silent against the leather of one fingerless glove, her startled features reflected in glittering silver. Pale azure illumination sizzled along a sharp and deadly blade, nipping lightly at the bare flesh of Lara's fingertips.  
  
She blinked, full lips parting slightly in shock.  
  
* * *  
  
Kurtis purchased a newspaper from a street vendor and clutched it in one hand, coarse paper whispering against the callused pads of his fingertips. He walked briskly, with purpose, eyes focused intently ahead. The cold hardness of his features persuaded any passerby's to refrain from friendly greeting, the darkness swirling in the steely-gazed of this hardened man prompting all to skirt widely around him.  
  
His Boran X and Chirugai bobbed at either side, clearly visible to the naked eye, awakening fear in many. They eyed him warily, and shrank before his intimidating presence.  
  
*Coffee, maybe? I could use some caffeine. A different place from the one where Lara and I stopped, yesterday, though. Don't want to risk running into her just yet.*  
  
He would have to return to the derelict apartment they'd spent the night in, and soon. They didn't have the luxury of fucking around while Karel was in some foreign country breeding little evil half-angel half-human hybrids into existence. But she was awaiting him, no doubt awake by now, mahogany orbs sparkling with warmth and life, that slender body curved perfectly to fit his own. Lips full and crimson, slightly parted in welcome...  
  
Kurtis shook his head briskly, pissed at himself. *I already almost lost it in the coffee house yesterday. If she hadn't stopped me I would have kissed her. What the fuck am I doing? I've never wanted or needed a woman in my life before.* He'd never wanted or needed *anyone* in his life, preferring instead to lone it, particularly after his father's violent death.  
  
*Flashback*  
  
Kurtis woke languidly to the length of a warm, shapely body pressed all along him. A slight smile tugged at his lips, this warmth undulating pleasantly all throughout his body. The softness cradled against his strong chest pressed closer, its heart thrumming powerfully, mingling as one with the drumming rhythm of his own. He reveled in this heat, this feeling of security and happiness, such as he had never before experienced.  
  
He felt each supple curve meld to the hardness of his own body. Such soft, lithe grace in this slender body, and yet he sensed an unnatural power in the taut and toned muscles.  
  
*Lara.* he realized, and jerked upright. *Oh shit.*  
  
They tore themselves from one another, looking slightly mortified, untangling limbs with downcast gazes.  
  
*End Flashback*  
  
Now, remembering, Kurtis shook his head once more. There could be no more of this. She'd gotten too close for comfort.  
  
* * *  
  
Lab Cambodia, August 10th, 2003  
  
*Such a waste.* Joachim Karel thought, contemplating the grisly visage before him.  
  
It clung spasming and vomiting to the very table on which it had been born, the horrible retching noises reverberating within sensitive ears. Blood geysered from between lips parted in a shriek of agony, carmine gore painting the steel beneath the creature's writhing body.  
  
This one had lasted an entire night, longer than any of the others. Karel had clung to the hope that he'd finally succeeded, that this was the beginning of the 'benign new order' he'd spoken of to the lovely Lara Croft. But this one was dying, just as all the others had, its organs decaying, innards rotting at an astonishing rate.  
  
It arched upward in another spasm of torment, the scream that tore vocal cords purely primal, echoing throughout the small room. A tongue thrashed from between gnashing teeth, blackened and corrupt, dangling limply against now still lips. A final twitch, and the beast contorted in Death's posture. It settled into reluctant acquiescence, head drooping to a final rest in pooling vomit.  
  
Silence fell thickly.  
  
"Gunderson, has your team in Prague retrieved Lara Croft and Kurtis Trent yet?" Karel asked quietly, moving forward to the single operating table. He snapped off the overhead light, throwing thin and severe features into blackness.  
  
The tall, imposing figure standing nearby shifted in his thick boots. "No. They have made two attempts so far, and failed both."  
  
Ebony orbs surged to dull and cool verdant ones. "Interesting."  
  
"We will have them, Karel. You can be sure of that."  
  
"I've given you plenty of time. Tell your men in Prague to double their efforts. I am afraid the Great Work may not be finished without those two."  
  
"They are an efficient team. And the male has...special powers."  
  
"Yes, that was known before. He's a Lux Veritatis initiate, though not a full member of the order. His father was an important figure in the Lux Veritatis, until he was murdered by Eckhardt a couple of years ago."  
  
"He worked for me once, years ago. He's an extraordinary man; invincible, it would seem. Some of the messes he survived..."  
  
"That's to be expected. He trained diligently with the Lux Veritatis for many years, and was considered special even among them. And the Lady Croft, as well, is known for her keen survival skills. You have told me nothing I don't already know."  
  
"The Proto Nephili even lost those two, the other night during a retrieval mission. Trent was injured, though apparently not fatally so. He escaped with the Croft woman on a motorcycle, and put the van my men were using out of commission."  
  
"Take caution. I do not want either of them damaged. At least not for now. Their bodies will be abused enough when I get hold of them. But until then, they must remain intact."  
  
"I'll inform my men."  
  
Karel smiled, a touch of wickedness curving thin lips.  
  
* * *  
  
"I didn't realize I was keeping company with an assassin."  
  
Kurtis paused in the entrance, his gaze lifting to the brunette standing before him. She knit both eyebrows and hurled something at his feet, its bulk clattering to a reluctant rest against the toe of his left boot.  
  
Slender arms crossed over an ample chest. Mahogany orbs surged to cerulean ones, their gazes twining and holding for a single moment.  
  
Slowly, almost lethargically, Kurtis tore his eyes from her, and crouched to examine the object glittering at his feet. Both thick brows lifted in shock, and he looked quickly toward Lara once again. "What the hell are you doing with this?"  
  
She smiled coldly. "Found it in your bag. I realize that wasn't very polite of me-to go through your belongings, but then again, politeness has never been a major factor in our...relationship, or whatever the hell you want to call this."  
  
"You had no right to do that." Kurtis said coolly, closing strong fingers around the object's handle.  
  
"Yes. You're right. But I was curious as to who exactly I was dealing with. You're not exactly forthcoming with information about your past."  
  
"And you are?"  
  
Lara paused, full lips parted as though to retort. Then she shook her head, loosened strands of hair swaying lightly before stormy eyes. "The design on that dagger is one of an ancient order of Assassins who call themselves the 'Plague.' An adequate description for an assassination brotherhood which has been around for over a hundred years. I bet you didn't know I knew that, did you? I've run into a few of their henchmen over the years. I never considered the thought that you might be one of them."  
  
He tucked the dagger carefully in his belt and rose to face her, darkness swirling now in the beautiful depths of his intense gaze. "I'm not an assassin. This was given to me by my father several years ago."  
  
"Then your father was an assassin."  
  
He struck her with such force she stumbled backward, color flaming in one high cheekbone. Pain numbed the entire right side of Lara's face, its chill touch caressing pallid flesh. She lifted a hand to gingerly probe the tender area, her wide eyes lingering on his shocked face.  
  
Kurtis looked stricken, both shoulders rising and falling in gasped breath, indigo gaze stunned. He peered blankly at the hand which had dealt the powerful blow, the masculine fingers trembling.  
  
She took him down in a swift, mighty tackle, their limbs intertwining as his legs gave beneath his swaying body. He drooped limply beneath her fury, placid and docile, not even attempting to fight back as Lara hooked both legs around his hard waist. She straddled him, pinning his larger mass under her, one gloved hand landing several hefty punches to his strong jaw.  
  
He closed his eyes against the vicious onslaught, still breathing heavily.  
  
"Don't do that again." Lara hissed, and he felt her breath fall harsh and ragged against his ear.  
  
He'd never meant to harm her. The act had not been pre-meditated; his strike had been born out of fury and momentary insanity, so blinded by anger had he been. His blood still surged hot through throbbing veins, boiling at the suggestion that his father had been anything other than the decent human being Kurtis had grown up with. Slowly, the pulsing liquid cooled, its furious churning slowing as a single thought reverberated in the depths of his mind.  
  
*I hit her.*  
  
He felt ashamed, and wondered at such ferocious loss of his control. Had his father's death really driven him to acts of brutality against a woman not even half his size?  
  
Blood stirred within the warmth of his mouth, and foamed thick to dry lips. It traversed the strong curve of his chin, flowing warm across her fingertips.  
  
Lara ceased all movement, freezing against his body. She rolled free of him, and pushed herself to her feet.  
  
He touched gentle fingers to his streaming mouth, wiping aside dripping carmine fluid. Slowly, with a grunt, Kurtis propped himself up on one elbow, and drew his knees to his chest.  
  
Lara helped him wordlessly to his feet, and he peered upward, through clinging bangs at her stony features.  
  
"Sorry." He reached to set a callused palm lightly against the curve of her cheekbone, gently cupping bruising flesh. "You pack a good punch."  
  
"Yes, and a good kick as well, which you'll find out first-hand if you don't take your hand off me."  
  
Kurtis pulled away obediently, and turned his back on her, crossing stiffly to his backpack. "You're wrong about my father." he said quietly, feeling the anger build inside him once again. "He was a good man."  
  
*I should have kept my big mouth shut.* Lara realized. She'd known this was a touchy subject for him, and to accuse his deceased father whom he obviously loved very much of being an assassin, whether this was true or not, had been downright slimy.  
  
Her eyes slipped unbidden to the curve of his back as he leaned over his bag to replace the dagger.  
  
She strode to her own pack, and seated herself beside it. "Kurtis-"  
  
He swung around to look at her, and the cerulean fire of those intense orbs halted her words mid-sentence. He pit a hand against the floor to steady himself, his perusal of her thorough.  
  
Neither spoke for a moment. Then she said, haltingly, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken about your father like that."  
  
He said nothing, still studying her.  
  
"You're bruising." Kurtis said finally.  
  
"Yes, well that happens when a big ape knocks you upside the head." she retorted, arching both brows in a cross look.  
  
His gaze dropped from hers. "Can't say you didn't get your chance to give it back to me." He stood. "Let me see it."  
  
"I'm sure you can see it just fine from over there, and if you can't, I suggest a visit to the eyedoctor. He'll fit you with a nice pair of glasses for your aging eyes."  
  
"You're a stubborn ass."  
  
"Yes, as opposed to being just an ass, like some people I could mention."  
  
Kurtis shook his head, a soft sigh parting crimson-painted lips. He hefted his pack in one strong hand, and slipped its strap over a broad shoulder. "We don't have time to dick around here. We need the 4th shard, and then we need to find Karel. We've wasted too much time as it is."  
  
"I'm a lady. I don't 'dick' around. That's an action only dicks are capable of. Which is a fairly accurate description of a certain-"  
  
He thrust up a hand in acquiescence. "Look, you've made your point, Lara. You hate me, I'm a dick. It's nothing I haven't heard before."  
  
"Bad luck with the ladies?" she asked sweetly, without shifting from her position. She looked in no hurry to go anywhere, and Kurtis wondered with a brief flash of panic if he'd just lost his 'partner.'  
  
He crouched before her, and cupped a shapely knee in one work-roughened palm. She felt the slow passage of his thumb against her kneecap, its warmth undulating pleasantly throughout her body.  
  
"Let's just call a truce." Kurtis said, and extended his free hand.  
  
She peered into those twin indigo pools, their depths cold and indifferent once more, sheathing any emotions he might be experiencing. *Bloody hell. I just can't seem to hate this man. He could probably kill Karel and then decide that he wanted to take over the world with the evil Nephilim army, and I'd look at him all starry-eyed and agree to be his right-hand woman in his quest for world domination.*  
  
Reluctantly, she took his hand in a powerful grip, the weight of her slender hand resting heavy in his own for a brief moment.  
  
A slight smile curved his lips, the mouth which held her captivated crusted in carmine flakes, the angry slashes of red waning to brown as his blood dried and congealed against soft flesh.  
  
"A truce." Lara agreed.  
  
They held hands a moment longer than was appropriate, and seemed to notice at the same instant. Both sets of fingers disentangled quickly, two pairs of hands thrusting automatically to waiting pockets.  
  
Lara rose to join him, briskly dusting her hands. "So, where to next, oh fearless leader?" a twinge of sarcasm distorted her voice.  
  
"There's only one other place I can think of that might have information on the 4th shard." he replied quietly, face hardening.  
  
* * *  
  
He picked the door's lock swiftly, with such skill that she suspected he'd had plenty of practice at this kind of thing.  
  
They slipped into the study's darkened interior with hardly a sound, staying close to one another. She felt his shoulder brush her own and drew slightly away, unnerved by his closeness. One slender hand cupped the butt of the Glock, fingers closing securely around cold steel.  
  
His breathing intensified, the inhalations more ragged now, the broad shoulders heaving with difficulty, almost as though he were having trouble breathing. Full lips parted in surprise, both eyebrows lifting. She released her gun and touched his arm, dark eyes converging warily on his face. "Kurtis?"  
  
"Start searching the place." he replied brusquely, and shook her off.  
  
She watched him a moment, following the smooth, muscular movements, his stride powerful and mesmerizing. His face lay bathed in darkness, thick shadows falling heavy across his familiar body.  
  
Shaking her head to clear it of inappropriate thoughts, Lara moved to the desk before her, its surface laid bare to the moonlight streaming in through a single window. "Is this place used anymore?" she asked quietly.  
  
He seemed oblivious to her question. Slowly, Kurtis crouched at the foot of the desk, one large hand drifting lightly across hard wood, a moody pensiveness seizing handsome features.  
  
Lara's brow rippled into lines of confusion.  
  
Then, unbidden, her gaze shifted to the floor beneath his hunched figure, its mahogany luster marred by a faint chestnut stain. Blood? Lara thought. And suddenly, she understood. "This was your father's office." There was no question present within the quiet tone of her voice.  
  
Kurtis darted a glance almost absently toward her.  
  
She rounded the desk to join him, and kneeled at his side. He contemplated her from beneath concealing bangs, then drew his hand back, placing it on one knee. "Yes. This is where I...found him."  
  
His voice wafted shakily to her ears. She glanced to the hand lying clenched and trembling on a jean-clad knee, and draped a hand softly across his shoulder. "Eckhardt murdered a man named Werner Von Croy during my first visit to Paris." she said quietly, deciding to omit the fact that it had actually been Karel who'd committed the atrocity, deciding it was too complicated a matter to delve into at this moment. "My friend. For a while, he was more like a father to me than my own father ever was." Mahogany orbs surged to the nearby window, to focus on the stars twinkling as far-off diamonds.  
  
Kurtis listened silently.  
  
"I wish it had been me to drive the 3rd shard through the fucker's brain. If not for me, then maybe for you. Despite the fact that you are a dick," and she broke off, full lips curving slightly, eyes dancing for a moment. He smirked. "We're two of a kind. I suppose I felt guilty that it wasn't me who killed Eckhardt, that I hadn't completed either my or your revenge."  
  
"It wasn't your job to get revenge for me." he replied quietly, studying her beautiful profile.  
  
"No. But it was partially my fault that you weren't there to avenge your father's death."  
  
"I stayed behind to fight Boaz. It was my choice. And I had my chance to get the 3rd shard-and they caught me."  
  
"You're right. It was entirely your fault."  
  
"Thanks, Lara." he responded, with a slight smile.  
  
"You're welcome, Kurtis."  
  
Their gazes surged to twine as one, both studying one another intently for a moment. Lara felt a breath catch and lie suspended in the interior of her throat. Her fingers stirred lightly against the thin material of his T-shirt.  
  
"Sorry about your friend." he said quietly, the expelled breath accompanying his words wafting gently across her face, so near to his own.  
  
Then, as she parted full lips to speak, he leaned in, with such swiftness she had no time to react. His lips descended on hers with the lightest of pressure, the brush of his mouth across her own as soft and silent as a whisper. His masculine scent filled her nostrils, the pleasant aroma prompting a shudder throughout her entire body.  
  
Their combined body heat thrust away the invading chill of the long abandoned office, embracing her slender body in its comforting warmth. She sank slowly to both knees, turning to fully face him. Their torsos touched briefly, electrically, as his mouth lingered soft and tentative against hers.  
  
As Kurtis felt her shift positions he jerked roughly away, tumbling backward to land on his ass, both palms connecting with hard floor to cease his motion. They peered wide-eyed at one another, both chests rising and falling in rapidly gasped breath.  
  
He tore his eyes from hers a moment later, and scrambled upright, ashamed at his sudden loss of control. *What the fuck am I doing?*  
  
* * *  
  
"If your father knew so much about the 4th Shard, why didn't we come here first?" Lara asked, rifling a thick sheaf of papers nestled within the depths of one desk drawer.  
  
"I said he knew it existed. I didn't say he knew where it was located."  
  
"Well, that's extremely helpful." She slammed a drawer shut, having found nothing of any use, and took a moment to scan the room, seeking a new potential hiding place. "If we don't find any information on this damn thing soon, I'm going to get very cranky."  
  
"He must have kept something on the 4th Shard here. There has to be some kind of documentation on it. It might give us a hint where to start looking." Kurtis replied.  
  
"You know what would make me very happy?" *Besides grabbing your adorable little head and shoving my tongue down your throat? Oops, where did that thought come from?* Brilliant color flamed in high cheekbones, and she turned from him so he would not notice.  
  
"Let me guess: a cheeseburger and fries."  
  
"You're incredibly witty, and no."  
  
"I try."  
  
Lara rolled her eyes and strode to the bookcase against the far wall, her deft fingers selecting a book at random and slipping the dusty tome from its resting place. She flipped it open, briefly perusing its contents.  
  
"Well don't keep me breathless with anticipation, Croft."  
  
Her head snapped up. "What?"  
  
"What would make you very happy?"  
  
"If the 4th Shard reared its ugly little head in this office, and we could concentrate on killing Karel right away instead of traipsing off to God knows where to pick up a piece of glass."  
  
"It's not just a piece of glass."  
  
She waved a hand dissmissively in the air. "Yes, I know. But all the same, it's an awful damn lot of trouble."  
  
"You just don't appreciate it the way you should."  
  
"Don't be a prick. And don't lecture me about having appreciation for ancient artifacts of significant importance. I've had enough experience in the field of archaeology to know they deserve a certain amount of..."  
  
"Admiration?"  
  
"Actually, I was going to say respect. Nasty things tend to happen when you don't have enough respect; flying darts, rolling boulders, fire-breathing statues, falling walls."  
  
"And you would know this from experience?"  
  
"You could say that."  
  
Kurtis shook his head, hiding a smile as he spun to examine the wall beside him. He traced callused fingertips across its surface, feeling carefully for any indications of concealed nooks. "What first brought you to Paris a couple months ago, when we first met? Eckhardt?"  
  
"No, actually. A compelling feeling that there was a gorgeous hunk of a man waiting to ride me off into the sunset on his motorcycle. I suppose my intuitions aren't always correct; I found you instead."  
  
He ceased all motion, and turned to face her, crossing both arms over his chest.  
  
She shot him a sly look.  
  
Kurtis lifted both thick brows and smirked. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Take it for whatever you'd like it to mean. However, I feel compelled to point out that there's really only one conclusion to be drawn. And that would be- "  
  
He thrust up a hand in aquiscience. "Thanks, but I think I've had enough of your ego-boosting compliments to last me for a while."  
  
She shrugged, and took down another book. "It's not my fault you seem to have trouble accepting compliments. Self-esteem issues, perhaps?" Lara suggested lightly.  
  
"Perhaps." He set one shoulder up against the wall at his back, leaning casually against it, cerulean orbs tracing the lithe curves of her body. "Or perhaps-"  
  
"Can't you just agree for once, instead of arguing with me?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Well try. Being the inferior species of the two of us, you should roll over and play dead once in a while. You know, be submissive." *Not that I actually want you to do that. It makes things more interesting when we're engaged in a battle of wits. But what I would find even more interesting would be us engaged in a battle of tongues.* Lara paused a moment, engrossed in her perusal of his handsome features, then suddenly her last hazy thought solidified within her mind, and she stiffened. *God damn you, Kurtis Trent, you stupid nasty little prick! Stop tempting me, or I'm going to... do something, and it will *not* involve tongues or roaming hands.* she fumed silently, the teasing light dancing in mahogany orbs darkening to an ominous glare.  
  
He raised an eyebrow in response to her dirty look, brow rippling into lines of confusion.  
  
"Keep looking. As you so elegantly put it, 'We don't have time to dick around here.'" Lara ordered, a bit more caustically than she'd intended.  
  
"You started it."  
  
She snorted, head snapping up from the book she'd bent intently over a moment before. "Oh please. Don't you think that's a little childish?"  
  
Kurtis shrugged, without taking his eyes from her. "No more childish than stealing someone's cigarette then putting it down your shirt."  
  
"That was for your own good. It's a bad habit."  
  
"You didn't do it for my own good. You did it just to piss me off."  
  
"Well did it work?"  
  
*Now what would she do if I said 'No it didn't actually, because I was too involved with staring at your breasts, which are very nice by the way.'?* Kurtis thought, then quickly admonished himself, darting a tongue out to moisten dry lips, her taste still clinging thick to the curve of his mouth.  
  
He looked up once more to find her staring expectantly at him.  
  
"You look a little distracted. Did your brain just short out?"  
  
"Thanks for acknowledging that I have a brain." he replied sardonically, absently cracking his knuckles.  
  
"You're right-I was a bit hasty with that last comment, wasn't I? I apologize." She returned to her reading, and he shook his head again, even as a happy warmth spread throughout his chest, feeling a strange contentment at trading snappy comebacks with this headstrong and beautiful woman.  
  
"Kurtis, I think I've found something." Lara murmured a second later, crooking a finger at him. He crossed obediently to her side, and took hold of a corner of the book for himself, gently tilting it so he could read. Their shoulders brushed lightly as they stood sharing the tome, and he willed away the tingle that flared all down his arm.  
  
"It's a map, of a Lux Veritatis temple located in...Egypt." Lara explained, the sentence dying into a whisper on the last word.  
  
Kurtis glanced over at her, his eyes caressing wan flesh. She looked savagely ill for a moment, before regaining composure and steeling herself. He tucked this reaction away in the back of his mind, surprised at this slip in her normally unshakable exterior.  
  
"There are no Lux Veritatis temples in Egypt," he replied calmly. "The Lux Veritatis were based here, in Prague, and in Paris, and Turkey. There's no reason for there to be a temple in Egypt." He nudged her fingers slightly out of the way, and squinted at the scrawled writing which had been concealed by her slender fingertips only a moment before.  
  
"It *says* Egypt." she said stubbornly, a bit pissed at being contradicted.  
  
"It's not. This depicts a small part of South America. A small part of the Amazon, to be specific."  
  
"And how do you know this?"  
  
"Because there is a Lux Veritatis temple in South America. It's where I was initiated into the Lux Veritatis order, when I was very young."  
  
"I thought you said the Lux Veritatis were based in Prague, Paris, and Turkey. None of those are in South America."  
  
"Right, because this temple isn't a regular one. The temple in South America is where any family of Lux Veritatis members were taken to be initiated. That was the only purpose it ever served. It hasn't been used in twenty years, maybe more."  
  
She knit both brows and caught the fullness of her bottom lip between gnawing teeth. "Why go to such trouble and build a temple that isn't even used very often?"  
  
"I don't know. It was built thousand of years ago, but you're welcome to ask the creators."  
  
"You're hilarious, Kurtis. I don't know how I ever got along without your comic genius before." Lara said dryly.  
  
He smirked and ignored the gibe. "This is where the 4th shard is?"  
  
"The passage talks about three Periapt Shards, and another one, more powerful than the other three combined, but also more dangerous." She touched a section of the page, indicating the passage she spoke of.  
  
He tipped his to head see it better, tousled dark hair whispering lightly against the side of Lara's own head. She shifted uncomfortably, recalling all too vividly the brief kiss they had shared only an hour earlier.  
  
"This is it." Kurtis breathed, and his lips curved in a genuine smile, the expression irritatingly adorable. "The 4th Shard is here. My father marked the map as one of Egypt to throw anyone else off. That's why the map isn't very detailed; anyone who took a quick look would accept it as part of Egypt, so the 4th Shard wouldn't fall into the wrong hands. It's almost coded, in a way."  
  
"Then how can you be sure it's a picture of the temple in South America?" Lara asked skeptically.  
  
"Don't trust me?" he replied, sneaking a look at her out of the corner of one eye.  
  
"It's not that I don't trust you," she assured him, though in truth she realized that she could not completely place all trust in this man. She'd seen too much, suffered betrayal at the hands of too many 'friends' to blindly follow someone just because of a fierce attraction. "Just your powers of deduction."  
  
"Because I'm a dick?" Kurtis asked, smiling.  
  
"No, because you have no brain."  
  
"I thought it was customary of women to recognize that a man has a brain, but that it's in his-"  
  
Lara thrust up a hand. "Please, no discussions of your anatomy. I'm not sure my stomach could take it."  
  
He chuckled, and the unfamiliar sound fell pleasantly on waiting ears. Removing the book from her grasp, he tore the page free of its binding in a swift, rough motion. "We're going to need scuba equipment." he said, deftly folding the map and slipping it into a front pocket.  
  
"What for?"  
  
"The temple entrance is underwater."  
  
"Terrific. What is it with you Lux Veritatis and your obsession with putting vaults and temples in hard-to-reach places?"  
  
"Makes things more interesting. You could use some excitement in your life."  
  
"Yes, because God knows I don't have enough of that." Lara responded sarcastically.  
  
"Quit complaining, Croft. We have a fucking temple to break into."  
  
A/N: There, they kissed. That was a sneak preview for what could be to come. ;) 


	8. Chapter Seven

A/N: Woo hoo here we go! Another chapter. Feedback appreciated.  
  
Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own 'em.  
  
Chapter Seven  
  
Amazon  
  
South America, August 14th, 2003  
  
Moonlight pooled against hard muscles, falling softly across a taut abdomen. Its touch highlighted damp bare flesh, drawing her attention to his tempting figure. For a moment she stilled her actions, simply watching him as he leaned over his pack, her gaze drifting over the nice ass concealed by dark jeans. He straightened a moment later, ruggedly sexy, glistening beneath a sheen of perspiration. The hard curve of his back beckoned Lara, its smooth, sun-darkened flesh marred by a few crisscrossing scars, which somehow only seemed to lend to his appeal.  
  
The surrounding jungle rose forbidding and black behind him, swaying foliage thick inlaid with undulating shadows. Nearby flora formed dark and ominous figures, untouched by the moon's effulgent illumination. Even the soft wash of light provided by the halogen lantern Kurtis had set up between their sleeping bags failed to penetrate the gloom.  
  
"You have everything?"  
  
She jumped, startled at the sound of his voice. Hastily, before Kurtis could turn and catch her gaping, she bent over her equipment and devoted her full attention to it. "All packed and ready to go. You sure you know exactly where to dive? I'd rather not spend half the night just looking for the damned place."  
  
"Don't worry. I know where it is." he said, turning to face her at the same moment she reluctantly raised her eyes once more.  
  
Unbidden, full lips parted in an 'o' of surprise, mahogany gaze momentarily eclipsed by thick dark lashes.  
  
"Do I really look that bad with my shirt off?"  
  
"Your stomach. What happened to it?" Lara blurted, transfixed by the taut dark flesh of his abdomen, and the vicious puckered scar traversing his body just above the navel.  
  
He glanced down, and absently traced a finger over it. "Old injury."  
  
"It doesn't look as old as the other ones."  
  
Kurtis raised an eyebrow. "Other ones?"  
  
She felt heat in her cheeks, but there was no point in denying having seen them, now that she'd opened her big fat mouth. "The ones on your back."  
  
"It was more recent than them." He strode powerfully over the ground toward her, his shadow falling heavy and dark over her features for a single moment as he passed the lantern. "You're not going to get rid of it by staring at it."  
  
"What caused it?"  
  
Kurtis seated himself behind her, more closely than he'd intended, heat rising between them as their legs brushed. Swallowing, he offered the water canteen he clutched to her, and swiped perspiration from his glistening brow. "Too fucking hot here."  
  
"So what caused it? Boaz? Was that why I found your blood on the floor of the arena in the Vault of Trophies?" she prodded, removing the cap and taking a quick swig.  
  
He scowled and shook renegade bangs from narrowed cerulean orbs. "If you're so concerned about it, kiss it better, Croft."  
  
"Don't snap at me. I was just curious." Her eyes slipped to his own, perusing the hardness in his cold gaze. Full lips curved in a slight smile as he stood, and before he could go, she grasped him by the legs to cease his movement.  
  
"What the he-"  
  
She pressed an open mouth to his bare flesh, effectively cutting him off mid-curse. His pulse leapt fantastically, lips parting in shock as her slender hands skimmed teasingly upward, settling to a final rest against his thighs. A violent shiver passed throughout him as her mouth caressed the raised flesh of his scar, and he felt the warmth of her tongue present at his navel for a single moment before she drew back.  
  
Lara stood, and briskly dusted her hands, his taste lingering in the depths of her mouth.  
  
He stared slack-jawed at her, his look of shock almost comical. She resisted the fierce urge to hurl herself at him and begin kissing and touching that sleek hard body; she'd known the move she'd just made was not an intelligent one, but for one moment she'd simply allowed herself to react to his 'kiss it better' comment without thinking it through. And she liked to see him thrown off like this, a breach in his normally unruffled composure. He looked even sexier caught off-guard.  
  
The hot flash of desire in his chill gaze was almost enough to placate her, however, a prize that suddenly made giving in to her own desires worth it. *Too bad you can't take a cold shower.* she thought, and smirked.  
  
* * *  
  
"Keep your light on me when we get underwater. I don't want us getting separated. If you get lost you're on your own, Lara; I'm going after the 4th Shard, whether you're with me or not." Kurtis said brusquely as they traversed the jungle's moist ground. They walked single-file, flinging aside clinging jungle foliage as they walked, both laden with burdensome packs. The weight of Lara's bag rested heavy across softly rounded shoulders, the straps gouging perspiration-slick flesh under the sweat-dampened material of her tank top.  
  
She rolled her eyes, and savagely hurled aside a tree branch.  
  
"I think I can handle myself, Kurtis." *You big ape. You're just pissed that you were turned on by me kissing your stomach.* Full lips flattened in a scowl, irritation rising thick within her as her eyes fell across his naked shoulders. "Why don't you put a bloody shirt on?" *Maybe that will help me to stop thinking about your abs, and how sexy you look even with a scar across the stomach.*  
  
"Get a grip. If I want to run around naked, then I'll fucking do it. I don't need you ordering me around." he snapped, sounding equally pissed.  
  
"It wasn't an order. It was a suggestion. But if you value my eyesight, then maybe you shoul-"  
  
"Just go to hell." Kurtis muttered, increasing his pace, muscles undulating powerfully beneath slick flesh.  
  
"Been there, done that, and didn't your mother teach you not to speak to ladies that way?"  
  
"You're not a lady."  
  
"Oh really?" Lara demanded, sarcasm distorting her voice. "Then what am I? A man? No, let me guess: a man dressed as a woman dressed as a man dressed as a woman."  
  
"I was referring to the fact that you're not exactly lady-like, *not* implying that you've undergone some kind of sex-change surgery."  
  
"Well, thank you very much. You don't know how much that means to me."  
  
Their bickering was liable to continue all the way to the lake which they would use to gain access to the Lux Veritatis temple. She had a feeling this sudden tension was a direct result of the underlying attraction between them, and the fact that both were two stubborn to do much about it. Kurtis' kiss had been a momentary slip, a move rendered without thought and one which was not likely to happen again. She suffered a pang of regret at that thought, and thrust it angrily aside.  
  
The plane trip to South America and the two day trek into this particular region of the Amazon had been arduous and uncomfortable to say the least, particularly the cramped coach section of the small aircraft which had been the last available flight option open to them. Kurtis especially had suffered, his longer legs folded uncomfortably near to a stubble-shaded chin.  
  
She'd fallen asleep on his shoulder that night, their crowded quarters not allowing much mobility, and woken the next morning to find him slumbering peacefully beside her, his head lying atop her own. The sight of such a hardened warrior sleeping like a young boy had stirred something deep within Lara, and she scowled again as she remembered this nostalgic reaction to his aggravating sexiness.  
  
They emerged now into a clearing, Kurtis still leading, his powerful steps slowing as he swung his pack from strong shoulders.  
  
Quiescent liquid lie in silent wait, the moon's silver brilliance caressing indigo water as it drifted lightly overhead. The lake shimmered as liquid mercury, its surface spreading smooth and silken across dank earth.  
  
The fresh pure scent of water wafted to gently tempt her nostrils. Lara inhaled, relishing nature's tantalizing perfume for a moment.  
  
"I didn't expect to find a lake in the middle of this place. Man made?" Lara asked, joining him at the water's edge.  
  
"Yes. To disguise the entrance to the Lux Veritatis temple, so that no one would realize what lay beneath it." He contemplated the lake through pensive eyes, a distant expression seizing hold of rugged features.  
  
"You said you were very young when you were brought here to be initiated. How the hell did they get you into the temple if you and your Lux Veritatis pals had to enter underwater?" She crouched, her gaze lingering curiously on him for a moment before dropping to the bag now sprawled at booted feet.  
  
Kurtis smirked, the slight twist of his lips almost bitter. "It was part of the test."  
  
Lara unzipped the pack's front pouch and yanked her wetsuit free of the contents jumbled haphazardly inside. "Test? What do you mean?" A black-cased flashlight joined her wetsuit, tumbling to a reluctant rest within the suit's thick, rubbery folds.  
  
"The Lux Veritatis taught their offspring to swim at an extremely young age. When it was time for them to be initiated, they had to find their way to the tunnel leading up into an air pocket where the temple was constructed-before they drowned. It was a less official part of the initiation. Those who died were considered not worthy." He unzipped his own pack in a single, brutal motion, his vicious yank nearly parting the zipper from the bag's bulk. "The entrance is a twenty minute swim from the place the initiates entered the water."  
  
Lara blinked, shocked. "No one could hold their breath that long."  
  
"They gave us respirators and air tanks with ten minutes of air. Once that ran out, we had to hold our breath until we either drowned or reached the temple. There were four of us the day I was initiated; I was the only one who reached the temple. My father told me it was how they 'weeded out those not strong enough to be members of the order.' But he hated the initiation. He said it was cruel, but it wasn't until a few years after I was initiated that he had the power to do something about it."  
  
"Ten minutes, hmmm? Well unless you have superhuman lung capacity, that seems a bit far-fetched to me."  
  
"The Lux Veritatis can...could manipulate their own bodies slightly through telekinesis, enabling them to go longer without air. But even ten minutes is an incredibly long time. It's why many people didn't survive the first part of the initiation."  
  
"I can't believe they did that to such young children. But I suppose they justified it by telling themselves that it was 'all part of the process.'" She paused, shaking her head in disgust, mahogany orbs trailing to his crouching figure. "Kurtis, did *you* initiate anyone?" Her voice fell cold and hard on his ears now.  
  
He eased both eyes briefly shut. "No. I left when I was sixteen, and joined the Foreign Legion." His lashes fluttered slowly, lethargically open, the world snapping into sharp focus around him.  
  
Silence fell thickly now, both lost in their own ponderings as they withdrew equipment. He snuck glances at her often, his gaze treading the curve of soft cheekbones, an unnamed emotion flickering in cerulean depths for a fleeting moment. Bile rose thick in his throat as violent memories assaulted him with sudden ferocity, prompted by the familiarity of the rippling lake before him, easily recognizable despite the fact that he hadn't seen it in nearly thirty years.  
  
*Flashback*  
  
The water's chill snaked to kiss exposed flesh, nipping at the slender and frail figure of his thrashing body. He felt burning pain rippling all throughout his chest, an urgent need to breathe convulsing the tiny form.  
  
He hung suspended in undulating liquid for a moment, peering frightened and bewildered through wide cerulean eyes. *I want Daddy.* he thought desperately, and suppressed the urge to burst into tears. To do so would mean death.  
  
He stroked rhythmically, the motion increasingly more difficult as the lake plunged to blackness before him for a single moment. Full lips parted in an explosive gasp, and churning liquid surged instantly into his mouth, thrusting down a wildly constricting throat. He felt the water's crushing weight settle inside him, filling delicate lungs, swirling all throughout him...  
  
*End flashback*  
  
"Turn around."  
  
Kurtis looked, startled, in the direction of the voice, so lost in the eerie flashback that for a moment he did not recognize its owner. He stared blankly at Lara, who quirked a slender eyebrow. "Turn your back. I'm changing into my wetsuit."  
  
He blinked, and the vision drifting before him with startling clarity vanished. "Sure."  
  
"I'll know if you're peeking, and I have a gun."  
  
He smirked, and spun with his bag gripped in both hands. "I'm not a pervert."  
  
"Just a friendly reminder. The next one won't be quite so friendly."  
  
Kurtis rifled his pack as she changed, the tantalizing rasp of a zipper teasing sensitive ears, the rustle of clothing lightly disturbing the calm. He steeled himself against thoughts of what she was doing only a few feet away from him, and stoically continued his unpacking.  
  
He retrieved his face mask, then removed a heavy pair of fins.  
  
"You're swimming in jeans? That might be a little uncomfortable once you're out of the water. Damn things chafe when they're wet, you know. And you can turn back around now."  
  
"Maybe I'll just take them off." Kurtis murmured distractedly.  
  
Lara stepped into her own fins. "What kinds of things should we be looking out for? Any booby traps, nasty little pitfalls your ancient brotherhood might have put into place to discourage intruders?"  
  
He stripped off his pants, baring muscular legs and olive boxers, the thin material of his undershorts stirred by a light breeze. Swiftly he changed into his own suit, moonlight dancing briefly against tanned and slick flesh. "I don't know. The Lux Veritatis knew how to get past any traps, if there are any. I never saw any."  
  
"Hmmm. Well, it's not like I haven't walked into a place before not knowing beforehand where any danger is."  
  
His mask settled over handsome features, partially sheathing beautiful azure orbs behind thick, frosted plastic. "Stay close." he said, and stepped forward, into the water's waiting embrace.  
  
* * *  
  
She felt the lake's pressing bulk settle chill and heavy along the lithe curves of her slender body, and blackness rushed in to cloud keen dark eyes. She breathed evenly, each inhalation slow and rhythmic, a froth of bubbles foaming at her mouthpiece and drifting lightly away into swirling liquid.  
  
Kurtis stroked easily beside her, his strong hard body arching and flexing with each fin stroke. He showed no hesitation, each powerful movement confident and sure, as though he knew precisely where he was headed. He seemed to navigate the black depths with such certainty despite not laying eyes on the place in almost three decades. For a moment Lara marveled at this acute and mysterious man, mahogany gaze surging to settle briefly on him.  
  
He unclipped his dive light from the belt cinched around his hard waist, and snapped it on, turning the beam forward.  
  
Golden illumination danced within the darkness, fighting its way through hazy liquid to cast ebony water in brilliance. The sudden flare of light revealed gently undulating plant life, and a sandy bottom lurking far below.  
  
They aimed downward, moving as one, bodies drifting near one another. The thick silken cord of Lara's braid streamed behind her, its length drifting briefly against Kurtis, prompting a shiver down his spine.  
  
He touched her elbow lightly, the brief passage of his fingertips against the thick insulated material of her suit merely a whisper. With the flashlight he gripped in his opposite hand, Kurtis indicated a large slab of stone far below.  
  
She squinted through surging blackness, thick dark lashes fluttering in concentration. *An opening.* Lara realized after a moment. It was barely visible from here, no more than a sliver of ebony against ragged silver.  
  
* * *  
  
His fingertips traversed rough stone, trailing the wall's jagged exterior as he surged upward, into the narrow unlighted tunnel. It's gloom rose to embrace him, plunging covetous fingers against his waiting figure, his flashlight's beam barely permeating the shroud of dark.  
  
Lara's fingers twined as one with his belt, wisely taking a firm hold so she would not lose him. The tunnel's tapering confines forced them to travel nearly single file, and he felt her body press close behind him. Her nearness did little to thrust away the chill which suddenly seized hold of him, its ferocity enough to churn bile within the interior of his throat.  
  
Swiftly, Kurtis shook off this unwanted fear, forcing all unhappy memories of this place from his mind. He swam grimly onward, following the tunnel's slope as it slanted gradually upward, carrying them nearer and nearer the surface.  
  
*I'm going to make this fast. Get in, grab the Shard, and get the hell back out.* He preferred to spend as little time possible in this place which had given birth to his role in the Lux Veritatis, an order which he'd eventually come to realize he wanted no part of. It was the reason he'd left at such a young age, and for several years he hadn't touched the power within him, giving in to his strange occult abilities only when he realized it made certain things a bit easier. Even now, he wished he could say a glib 'fuck you' to Karel and the rest of the world, and let someone else worry about Karel and his order of Nephilim. He'd never harbored aspirations of heroism, preferring instead to keep to himself and watch his own back. But he couldn't dishonor his father's memory by allowing Karel to triumph; he could not let all his father had lived and died for become useless simply because he was tired of fighting for a world he hadn't much hope for anyway.  
  
Above, dim illumination thrust downward, its soft effulgence slipping unbidden through layers of glistening liquid. The tunnel widened now, flaring outward as it spiraled ever upward toward the surface. Lara loosened her hold on him and stroked powerfully, until he found her beside him once more. Slowly, almost lethargically, she pulled ahead, and her face twisted briefly to peer haughtily over one small shoulder. Behind her mask, full lips puckered and parted slightly, the teasing kiss followed by a smirk.  
  
His own lips curved to match her expression, and he swam fiercely now, drawing even with her again, their churning fins frosting quiescent water in a violent froth.  
  
They broke the surface as one, glistening and damp as they tugged mouthpieces from between panting lips.  
  
"I beat you." Lara said, slipping off her mask and shaking clinging bangs free of high cheekbones. With an agile flick of one wrist, she tossed the mask over the water's shimmering surface to land on hard stone.  
  
"You did not. We tied."  
  
"You're just trying to preserve your manly pride by pretending you weren't beaten by a woman. It's not healthy to lie to yourself like that, Kurtis."  
  
"Really." he said, quirking an eyebrow. Then, with one final long look at her, he thrashed to the pool's edge and hoisted himself out, treading awkwardly in the clumsy fins.  
  
The room they'd emerged into was nothing more than a stone chamber, arched walls curving in a domed ceiling high above, ancient rock thick inlaid with dust and grime. The dim illumination which had guided them here seemed to emanate from the very walls themselves, and he panned his flashlight slowly around the room for a moment, taking in their surroundings, cerulean orbs probing ambulant shadows for signs of danger.  
  
"See anything interesting?" Lara asked, slender fingers closing over the pool's edge.  
  
He glanced down at her, then set aside his light and reached down, strong hands slipping warm and gentle over her wrists. His muscles bunched beneath her added weight, and she found herself lifted free of rippling liquid with surprising ease.  
  
*I didn't need his help getting out.* she thought, but refrained from saying so, enjoying the weight of his hands on her hips. Their gazes merged, the intensity of his just as startling as always.  
  
"Just one thing." he said, and smiled. He moved slightly back, his masculine hands drawing free of her body with agonizing lethargy.  
  
She swallowed hard and bent to remove the heavy, cumbersome fins, checking the dive knife strapped to one shapely calf as she did so. "So you don't know where this Shard is?"  
  
"No clue. It's got to be well hidden, since Lux Veritatis have been initiated here for years and no one ever knew of it's existence." He stripped off his own fins, even so casual a movement powerful and sexy to her eyes. He looked even sexier dripping wet, water traversing the handsome planes of his face as it dribbled from saturated hair.  
  
She straightened once more, and raised an eyebrow at him. "Which way?"  
  
"Come on." he said, and jerked his head toward the northern wall. He retrieved his flashlight, sweeping its illumination over the passage revealed by the sudden flood of light, and reached almost absently for her hand.  
  
Their fingers brushed for the briefest moment, and she felt a pleasant warmth surge all throughout her, its touch undulating in each limb. Her hand bucked in response, the minute twitch stiffening his entire body as he realized what he'd been about to do.  
  
He strode ahead without waiting to see if she followed.  
  
Lara kept close behind, a sudden thrill trembling her slender figure. *It's been a while since I've done this sort of thing. The last temple I was in was...the Temple of Horus. Well, let's hope this is a better experience.*  
  
Their bare feet tread stone with the lightest of whispers, flesh rasping quietly against smooth floor, the rock flattened by centuries of visitors. The passage's dank ancient scent writhed in her nostrils, its presence nearly overpowering Kurtis' clean masculine smell. She inhaled deeply, reveling in this strangely familiar odor, at that moment realizing just how much she'd missed this: the pleasant tension of exploring unknown civilizations, the tantalizing call of adventure and danger, her passions, the very reason which she existed.  
  
*How did I manage to give it up? This is who I am.*  
  
The passage broadened into another chamber, and they stood side by side, perusing their surroundings through stunned eyes.  
  
The floor lay thick before them with bodies, these grisly visages lying mangled and contorted, decaying lips parted in final screams of horror. Carmine fluid, long since dried to bronze, sheathed gray stone beneath its immense spread.  
  
"What the hell?" Kurtis murmured, pacing forward a step.  
  
A penetrating *shing!* rent the air, and Lara's gaze slipped to the far left wall. Protruding from ancient stone, a wicked blade glistened momentarily in the illumination spilling from Kurtis' flashlight.  
  
"Kurtis look out!" she yelled.  
  
He ducked instinctively, surging into a forward roll at the same moment another blade sang to life, thrusting upright where he'd stood only a moment before. He rose, tense muscles uncoiling, and now the entire floor erupted beneath him, slashing blades plunging upward, perilously close to his body.  
  
"Shit." Lara said, standing rigid just within the chamber's entrance.  
  
He dodged around another shining sword, and leapt forward into a sprint, arms pumping, feet drumming against blood-stained stone. Lara watched tensely, heart thundering powerfully within her chest.  
  
Kurtis rolled again to avoid being impaled, and snapped a hand up, palm open. The sudden burst of power exploded outward, shearing off a blade as it hissed upward, passing mere centimeters in front of his face, its deadly point nearly skewering him through the head. He scrambled hastily to his feet, and jumped straight up, leaping impossibly high as he manipulated his muscles through telekinesis to allow them to perform unthinkable feats.  
  
Lara's eyes widened on the scene, full lips parting in astonishment.  
  
He landed safely on the other side, knees bending to absorb the shock of the landing, and spun to face her.  
  
Her gaze met his own, peering unwavering at his perspiration-slick face. Keeping her eyes on him, she took a running start out onto the floor, and leapt high, arching into a graceful back handspring. Her acrobatics carried her safely across the first few feet, and she twisted her lithe body nimbly to avoid the deadly blades as they sought her slender figure.  
  
She thrust upward into another flip, and felt searing pain flame in her right arm. With a slight cry she stumbled, her momentum finished, body tumbling painfully to hard stone. Warmth trailed her injured limb, streaming blood twining the length of her toned arm beneath the wetsuit. She gripped it with her left hand to staunch the flow, and climbed to her feet, squinting through narrowed eyes at Kurtis.  
  
"Jump." he called.  
  
She skirted another thrashing blade, just avoiding its fatal tip, and sprang into the air, trusting his judgment, placing her fate momentarily in his hands.  
  
Her body crashed into his waiting arms, and he staggered under her sudden weight, holding her securely to him.  
  
She plunged her dangling foot into his knee, the savage kick forcing a surprised cry from between parted lips, his leg jerking in response and buckling. They sprawled in a tangle of limbs on the floor, bodies closely entwined.  
  
"Turn your head!" Lara yelled over the clanking of retracting blades.  
  
"What the hell do you-"  
  
She grasped his chin forcefully in one strong hand, and slammed it against cold rock, pressing her own cheek tightly to his chest.  
  
From above, something heavy whined toward them, the very air rippling with its passage. The sythe hurtled directly over them, its bulk swishing terrifyingly close to Lara's back. A second later, another dropped, lunging with terrific speed toward Kurtis' head. It whistled past, nicking the tender flesh of his ear, its viciousness drawing blood.  
  
They lay panting with relief for a moment, his arms moving to drape protectively over her waist. She touched a hand lightly to his bleeding ear, and shifted slightly against him.  
  
"Guess I'm not quite as rusty as I thought." 


	9. Chapter Eight

A/N: Sorry, guys! I thought it had only been a few days since I last updated this. Next chapter and the chapter after that are already written, so hopefully I'll remember to put them up soon. :D Thanks for your reviews.  
  
Disclaimer: Tomb Raider does not belong to me. Eidos Interactive and Crystal Dynamics own all characters and aspects of Tomb Raider.  
  
Chapter Eight  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Amazon  
  
South America, August 14th, 2003  
  
He appeared without warning, a tall slender figure cloaked in the black of night. Shadows lay heavy and dormant across pallid features, sheathing the pulsing ebony veins looping otherwise unmarred flesh. The jungle stilled around him, the dissonant shrill of far-off animal cries abruptly dying away.  
  
His lips twitched in the barest of smiles.  
  
The lake shimmered before him in placid wait, abandoned but for the two packs heaped atop its shore, similar in appearance, resting side by side aloft glistening mire. So alike, and so close to one another, much like their owners. he thought, and smiled again.  
  
Joachim Karel strode to the water's edge, and snapped both palms forward, toward gleaming liquid.  
  
* * *  
  
The ground trembled minutely beneath them, a brief shudder which undulated simultaneously throughout Lara and Kurtis.  
  
He looked instantly wary, and shot an arm out as though to protect her from whatever cataclysm which might next transpire. "What the hell was that?"  
  
"I don't know. You didn't have something bad for dinner, did you? Something that didn't quite agree with your stomach?" Lara replied lightly.  
  
"Very funny." he said, smirking. "It wasn't me."  
  
"All right. Just checking."  
  
They stood rigid for a moment, cautiously eyeing their surroundings through thick-lashed eyes, Kurtis' hand automatically straying to her shoulder. She tensed slightly beneath its weight, and his gaze shifted momentarily to her beautiful profile. "An earthquake, maybe?" Lara suggested quietly, sensing his stare.  
  
"May-" Another tremor paused him mid-sentence, this one more volatile in nature, its sudden ferocity hurling Lara sideways, into Kurtis' arms. He gripped her tightly against him, and they rode out the quake together, her small body jerking in his hasty embrace with the motion of the ancient building.  
  
All movement ceased after one breathless moment, but his grip did not slacken. She found herself trapped against the hardness of his chest, their faces disturbingly close, the soft touch of his bangs against her forehead shivering her slight frame. He stood only a couple inches taller than she, but somehow she felt immensely secure in such close proximity to him.  
  
Then, with unexpected viciousness, their world exploded around them, pitching even Kurtis off balance this time, his shoulder contacting heavily with the wall beside him. The impact expelled a grunt from between parted lips.  
  
Lara clutched him stiffly, fear unlike any she'd ever experienced before seizing hold of her body now, an image of another temple, not all that dissimilar to the one in which she now stood, lingering before widened dark orbs. Parting rock, collapsing earth, asphyxiating dust swirling all around her, surging unbidden through gasping lips. Her brief stint in the Temple of Horus had nearly ended her life, in one of the most horrible ways she could conceive of to die: buried panting and crushed beneath immovable tons of stone and dirt.  
  
"What the hell's going on?" Kurtis murmured, his voice rumbling close beside her ear.  
  
"The whole bloody thing's coming down around our damn ears. We have to get the hell out of here. Now."  
  
He glanced down at her, surprised by this sudden urgency in her normally calm and in-control voice. His toned and powerful arms tightened further, almost as though he sensed the terror and panic surging just below her taut body.  
  
*Can he feel my heart beating faster? Does he know this situation doesn't exactly thrill me?* Lara thought, and slipped from his comforting embrace, unwilling to allow her weakness to be laid bare before him.  
  
"Come on." Kurtis said, and this time did grab her hand, their fingers twining easily, hands melding perfectly, almost as though they had been sculpted for one another.  
  
*I don't need you to take care of me.* she thought, her independence disallowing her to accept his gentle guidance. She pulled free, and for a moment mourned the loss of his warmth.  
  
He hardly paused, even as the abrupt separation of their bodies thrust a pang of disappointment all throughout him. His steps carried him briskly down the passage, his powerful body moving with a strange grace and assuredness.  
  
The temple convulsed once more, and from above a section of rock plunged downward, its violent passage trembling the very stone beneath bare feet. Ancient dust plumed upward, its weight settling heavily across athletic bodies.  
  
A ragged cough tore his throat, and beside him he heard Lara's own wheezing as surging dust slipped between parted lips. He blinked aside clinging moisture, its presence prompted by swirling dirt. "Looks like we're going to have to take another exit."  
  
Rock exploded around them, both walls to either side bursting like overripe fruit. The thunderous roar of this cacophony drowned out his warning shout, Kurtis' raised voice falling on deaf ears.  
  
She voiced a startled cry, a moment before the torrent of destruction rose to claim her.  
  
* * *  
  
The lake lunged upward in response to his upturned hands, geysering into the sky's immense expanse, a magnificent eruption of froth speckling ebony heavens. Its mighty bulk cleared the deep pit in which it had once rested, dissipating into oblivion as it rained down amongst trees bowed in deference to the powerful force.  
  
He aimed a single palm at the barely-visible tunnel Lara and Kurtis had swam only an hour before, and now the rock crumbled and flaked beneath his tremendous power, peeling aside to reveal the temple's ancient interior.  
  
* * *  
  
"Lara!" His lips lay parted on the syllable of her name, the acrid tang of dust settling thick within the warmth of his mouth. He felt its stifling mass caress the curve of his throat, his breath flowing labored and ragged now.  
  
"Shit!" he rasped, kicking aside a pile of rubble. "Shit, shit, shit!" His heart thundered rapidly, more insistently, images of her lithe beautiful body trapped gasping beneath an immense avalanche dancing before him. He dropped to a crouch, and began to dig now, with frantic, desperate motions, tossing aside large stones as easily as an angry child might hurl her doll.  
  
Kurtis stretched out a hand as he worked, its surface slick and glistening beneath perspiration. A massive heap of rocks formed by the wall's remnants leapt upward in response, the debris pattering harmlessly down over his broad shoulders.  
  
He stood, and spun immediately, twisting at the waist to examine his surroundings through dirt-crusted orbs. Another coughing fit racked him, trembling his body with surprising ferocity.  
  
"Lara!"  
  
Silence hung thick and weighty all around him.  
  
Both eyes slipped shut, long dark lashes concealing the brilliant fire of his dazzling gaze. He brushed the power within him, and it stirred, thrusting outward into his surroundings.  
  
The world snapped into focus around him, glazed in carmine illumination, its effulgence penetrating stone and dust to see what his own keen eyes could not. He maneuvered the far-see spell with the ease and skill of much practice, probing beneath piles of wreckage, scanning thoroughly for any sign of Lara.  
  
Stone shifted to his right; he snapped from the spell's grip with a gasp, and wrenched both eyes open.  
  
A slender hand plunged upright, the tanned and slick flesh tainted by clinging dust.  
  
* * *  
  
Crushing weight settled all along her body. She fought its violent touch, writhing beneath the massive rocks threatening to crush fragile bone, the scene so eerily familiar to her last moments in the Temple of Horus that she felt panic blossom within her.  
  
She scrabbled with numb and bleeding fingers at her tomb, and now a single thin shaft of illumination pierced swirling blackness as her hand freed itself. Warm fingers seized her own, their pressure comforting and familiar, the rough callused pad of his palm pressing tightly to her own.  
  
"Kurtis." Lara breathed, and dust assaulted convulsing lungs.  
  
*I can't breathe!* she thought wildly, eyes growing wide against ashen flesh.  
  
He worked swiftly above her, hurling aside the crumbled wall sheathing her slender figure. She felt the release of pressure as he cleared the rubble, and the fresh, sweet perfume of clean air wafted now to her flaring nostrils.  
  
His face blurred into incongruous lines above her, partly eclipsed by heavy lashes. She blinked, trying to bring him into focus, and felt her stomach shift with a violence that drove her eyes shut once more.  
  
* * *  
  
He freed her entire body with one final heave, muscles bunching with the effort, a low grunt rumbling deep in his throat. She tensed with the removal of the final boulder, then her body settled into slack acquiescence, head drifting limply to one side.  
  
Kurtis touched gentle fingers to the gash parting silken flesh, its meandering length painting one soft cheekbone in crimson liquid. She lay still and cold beneath him, unresponsive.  
  
His heart thumped briefly in terror.  
  
"Lara." he said, and brushed tenacious particles of dust from full lips.  
  
"Five more minutes, mum." she whispered, and cracked an eye at him.  
  
He smirked in relief as she propped herself upright on one elbow. "Oh...shit. And to think I thought I hurt before, when that damn blade nicked my arm."  
  
"Anything broken?"  
  
"Other than my legs, arms, and back? No." She shifted both legs tentatively, testing them, and her face clenched in a spasm of pain. "I feel like a bloody Sumo wrestler just steamrolled me, then decided to sit his fat ass down on top of me just for laughs."  
  
Kurtis slipped an arm around her waist. She leaned gratefully into him for a moment, using his support to rise slowly to her feet.  
  
"We need to get out of here." she said quietly, still resting her body lightly against his own.  
  
"We need the 4th Shard. We can't leave without it."  
  
"There's no point in finding the Shard just in time to be buried under thousands of tons of rock and dirt. It's not going to do anyone any good. Particularly us."  
  
"Fine. Then you-"  
  
A sudden reverberating crack ceased his next words, the ominous sound echoing all around them. He cradled her head instinctively in his arms, pulling it down to rest against his chest, the move rendered without thought in an effort to protect her from falling debris. Her muttered "What the hell?" fell muffled and unheard against his front.  
  
The temple exploded.  
  
Kurtis felt the unexpected eruption deep in his bones, its violence penetrating their huddled figures. It appeared as though some great hand had stretched forth from the heavens and simply peeled back the layers of dirt and stone surrounding them, its unseen fingers crushing ancient rock, flinging aside clinging remnants of the Lux Veritatis landmark.  
  
All around Lara and Kurtis, walls folded and crumpled, thrusting strangulating dust into the now-visible darkened sky overhead.  
  
"What the fuck?" Kurtis murmured, lips parting slightly in shock as both intense eyes settled on the land before them, devoid of the liquid which had effectively concealed the decimated temple for centuries. The lake, all traces of its existence, in fact, had vanished into thin air.  
  
He traded a stunned look with Lara.  
  
"I'm glad to have finally caught up to you two. I think we have a lot to talk about." a voice called from nearby.  
  
Lara froze. *Oh shit. Not Karel.*  
  
Sizzling electricity rent the air, its heat searing exposed flesh. Lara tore herself from Kurtis and leapt nimbly to safety, hitting the ground in a roll and coming up on both feet.  
  
Her companion had not fared so well.  
  
The bolt of energy struck him full in the chest, staggering Kurtis backward over rough and treacherous terrain. He collapsed to one knee, breath slipping ragged and heavy through parted lips.  
  
She wrenched her dive knife free of its sheath.  
  
Karel smiled, her defensive movement hardly unnoticed by his keen eyes. "You can go to him, Lara. I won't hurt either of you."  
  
"Oh really?" she said, sarcasm thickly present in her tone. "And I suppose whatever the hell that was you just hit him with was your way of saying 'Hello, and welcome, with my warmest regards.'"  
  
"I could have killed him."  
  
"Well, how kind of you. You're truly a saint." she snapped, warily eyeing their nemesis as she scrambled over the ruins lying dormant and silent over what had once been the lake's bed. She peered upward to Karel's impassive face, his thin figure standing still and harmless at the pit's edge.  
  
Kurtis stirred, and rose slowly, painfully, one hand curling protectively over his abdomen. Lara reached him a moment later, and stretched out her free hand to gently touch his shoulder, positioning herself in front of him as Karel watched from above. "You all right?" she asked, pitching her voice low.  
  
He waved her aside. "I'm doing just great."  
  
"I want you alive." Karel called. "It would be very unfortunate if I had to kill either of you."  
  
"Isn't he a sweetheart." Lara remarked sardonically. "I really feel a lot better knowing he has out best interests in mind."  
  
"I asked you to join me once, Lara Croft, in my quest for a new order. I extend the same offer to you again, and to your friend Mr. Trent as well. You can save yourselves, offer yourselves freely to the marvels of science."  
  
Kurtis straightened.  
  
Lara gripped her weapon in perspiration-glazed fingers.  
  
The sound wafted faintly to her keen ears as she stood tensed in combat stance, its presence a distinctly familiar one that she found herself unable to place. She glanced briefly to Kurtis, wondering if he'd noticed this same oddity in the strained silence.  
  
He stared upward, unblinking, unwavering cerulean gaze focused on Karel's wan features.  
  
The Chirugai thrust deep, its blades parting pale flesh, shredding muscle and sinew as it settled to a final rest in the back of Karel's neck. The Nephilim's eyes bulged, and the body spasmed violently as a shining blade plunged through his windpipe, its carmine-painted tip passing clean through to the other side. Karel spasmed once more, then drooped limply, the abrupt motion prompting his twitching figure over the pit's brink.  
  
He landed mere feet away, and rolled lifelessly over, crimson liquid twining exposed veins and bone, dark orbs blankly contemplating Kurtis' emotionless face. His lips lie knotted in a final scream of protest, glistening beneath a thick layer of gore.  
  
Kurtis thrust out a hand, and the Chirugai hummed to life once more, drawing free of ruined bone and flesh. It descended willingly to his waiting fingers, its grisly blades retracting into chill steel.  
  
Karel shifted, and opened a palm to the sole surviving Lux Veritatis initiate.  
  
Kurtis expelled a strangled gasp, both hands surging automatically to his throat, the Chirugai slipping free of his powerful grasp. His body jerked upward, as though plucked from the air by an invisible giant's hand, and now the immense, unseen force pinned him writhing to a nearby dirt embankment.  
  
Lara spun, knife plunging downward for the bastard's head in a deadly swing which might have cleaved Karel's head clean off his shoulders had the blow landed. He caught her wrist in an inhumanly strong grip, and his fingers tightened minutely, drawing a pained gasp from her.  
  
The knife tumbled un-used from a slender hand.  
  
She threw an elbow into his face, pressing forward, following the attack with a spinning kick that knocked him off-balance. He stumbled, and recovered impossibly fast, smiling coldly through blood-dampened lips. "I'm killing him, Lara. Your friend is dying. I'm crushing his windpipe, slowly, painfully."  
  
She snapped a side-kick into the flesh of his stomach, driving hard with the knife-edge of her foot, and he fell back again.  
  
"Let him go, Karel." Lara demanded coldly, both hands curving to hard fists. "I guarantee you don't want to piss me off to badly, even if you're not completely human. And killing Kurtis would piss me off very badly."  
  
Karel smiled once more, and raised a hand.  
  
Kurtis twisted viciously in response, handsome face contorting in agony, his body thrashing and flailing frantically, seeking reprieve from his tormentor.  
  
Her gaze surged unbidden to him, and everything in her screamed for her to go to him, to save him, cease his pain. But there was no way for her to do such a thing on her own, Kurtis' only savior the very man who sought to destroy them.  
  
"Karel! Stop it!" Lara yelled, stunned at the shrillness of her own voice. Her thundering heartbeat magnified, its throbbing beat fluttering wildly in terror. She felt its pulsation against her ribcage, the slick of bile rising to glaze the interior of her throat. "Karel! Stop, dammit! Didn't you just say you wanted us alive?"  
  
As he turned to eye her, Lara dropped to a crouch, and retrieved her knife from its resting place. Karel plunged out a hand to stop her, and she struck fiercely, violently, driving the gleaming blade into his eyeball. Gore dripped freely, flowing thick over the knife's handle, the blade's glistening tip penetrating the iris. Viscous fluid squirted outward in a thin ribbon, its warmth trailing Lara's hand as she pulled away, leaving the knife embedded in him.  
  
The Chirugai, maneuvered one final time by Kurtis' dying brain, struck Karel's squirming body, ramming through the sternum to pierce his beating heart. Thin lips parted in a scream of unearthly origin, its eerie tone shuddering Lara's entire body. She stumbled backward, breathing hard.  
  
Karel dropped slackly to the earth, his bodily fluids spreading as a crimson oil slick beneath him. He bucked once in protest, the spasm passing all throughout him, then stilled, too damaged to retaliate.  
  
Kurtis slipped limply downward, his body no longer bolstered by Karel's strange powers. His knees struck first, pitching the rest of him forward, his lifeless figure plunging to settle prone and unmoving against blood-stained earth. 


	10. Chapter Nine

A/N: Here we are. Next chapter. Enjoy. Feedback is appreciated. :)  
  
Dislcaimer: Nope, not mine.  
  
Chapter Nine  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Lux Veritatis Temple  
  
South America, August 14th, 2003  
  
His body lie quiescent and chill beneath her fingertips as she crouched slowly beside him, the inert figure almost serene in its absolute stillness despite the grim circumstances. Gently, almost tenderly, Lara carefully rolled him onto his back, small palms curving lightly over the motionless arch of his throat. His handsome face lolled to one side, resting in mud and grime, thick lashes shading wan flesh.  
  
She swallowed hard, and slipped icy fingers to the base of his throat, seeking a pulse.  
  
Nothing.  
  
"Oh God. Kurtis..." Lara murmured, her stomach shifting violently. Loosened strands of perspiration-damp hair brushed his forehead as she bent close, and took his head into her hands. She stroked long dark bangs from his closed eyes, her fingers tracing a quivering pattern over soft flesh. *I didn't want you to die. Dammit! I didn't want you to die, you bloody Yank.*  
  
A weak thump, a single hint of life throbbed beneath the warmth of her hand as it passed once more over his neck.  
  
Dark eyes widened in grief-stricken features.  
  
She checked once more, swiftly, and this time immediately identified his heartbeat, weak but certainly present.  
  
"You resilient little piece of shit." she breathed in relief, and set one hand against his chin, tilting his head back to clear his air passage. She had to work fast if she wanted to get him breathing once more before his heart stopped for lack of oxygen.  
  
Bending, Lara pressed full lips to his own, and exhaled a long breath into him. His chest inflated, rising slowly, then descending once more. She paused, then set her mouth against his again, and filled his body with her own precious air.  
  
He lay silent and motionless.  
  
She worked diligently, praying as she performed mouth to mouth, terror pooling deep within her, snaking chill fingers around her thundering heart. "Dammit, weren't you just bragging about going ten minutes without air?" Lara whispered, and breathed into him once more.  
  
He warmed beneath her touch, his flesh heating beneath the contact of her wandering fingers, heartbeat surging harder, almost as though in response to her handling.  
  
A ragged cough rent the interior of his throat, shuddering Kurtis' entire body.  
  
She ceased all action, and pulled back, one hand smoothing over his lips to rest against one stubble-roughened cheekbone.  
  
His lashes fluttered.  
  
Lara expelled a lengthy sigh of relief, and reluctantly removed her hand as he stirred beneath her.  
  
He coughed again, the violence of its passage trembling every limb. "Shit." he murmured through dry and cracked lips, and rolled weakly onto his side.  
  
Vomit seared his throat, splashing hot and thick over the ground, mingling with gory soil. Its bitter tang lingered against the warmth of his tongue, curling the corners of his mouth in distaste. He spat and swiped a hand over slick lips.  
  
Lara set a hand against his strong back as he retched, feeling the tendons cord and then lethargically relax.  
  
He flipped back around to face her, and lie weakly back for a moment, the intensity of his gaze unmoving from her tense features. She felt warmth encase her slender hand, and glanced down to find his fingers twined gently through her own.  
  
"Thanks." he said simply.  
  
* * *  
  
They walked stiffly, their steps somewhat faltering, their battered bodies leaning heavily on one another. She kept one arm firmly around his waist, and though he'd at first seemed hesitant in accepting her assistance, Kurtis now appeared grateful for the extra support. They strode weighted down with equipment once more, having hastily collected it from where it had been abandoned and loading it onto backs already bent in weariness. Karel had failed to awaken, and Lara hoped he stayed that way for a while, long enough for them to get far enough away that he could not locate them again so soon. *Or at least I hope he gains consciousness long enough to drag his ass off into the bushes, so we can return for the 4th Shard without him attempting to cramp our style.*  
  
Their camp lie still and undisturbed, the dark inert forms of their sleeping bags just visible through thick foliage.  
  
Lara released a silent sigh of relief and felt Kurtis relax slightly beneath the protective circle of her arm as he did the same.  
  
"I've got bandages in my pack. I'll patch your arm up as soon as we reach camp." he said mildly, the first words he'd spoken since his murmured thank-you nearly two hours earlier.  
  
"So do I. I can do it myself." Lara replied, swatting aside a tree branch. "Besides, it's been bleeding out so long I don't think bandaging it really has much purpose anymore."  
  
Kurtis shrugged and fell silent once more, easing out of her hold and accelerating slightly as they tread exhausted and relieved into their abandoned campsite. He felt weakness in his knees and wished for a moment that he had not been so hasty in jerking himself from her secure grip.  
  
She brushed past him and gratefully tossed down her heavy bag, its bulk bouncing lightly before rolling to a halt atop her crumpled sleeping bag. Her gaze surged momentarily to her taciturn companion, and mahogany orbs widened ever-so- slightly.  
  
He'd unzipped his wetsuit to the navel, baring tanned and sleek muscles, his movements stiff and pained as he stripped. He darted a quick glance over to her, and swiftly exchanged the suit for a pair of jeans he selected from his unzipped pack.  
  
She averted both eyes, and lay back against the comforting softness of her bedding.  
  
His shadow fell across her a moment later.  
  
"Get up. Let me look at your arm."  
  
"Leave it alone." Lara responded wearily, and turned on her side, slipping both hands up to rest beneath her head.  
  
She sensed his presence beside her, his tantalizing warmth embracing lithe curves. Strong fingers curled over the bicep of her right arm, gentle despite their power. She opened her mouth to emit a rude protest, then found herself too bone-weary to deliver a stinging remark and instead allowed him to carefully probe her wound.  
  
Slumber draped its veil over her abused and fatigued body, and Lara slipped into waiting blackness.  
  
He finished wrapping her arm as silently as possible, listening with the slightest of smiles to the soft whisper of her breathing. She didn't twitch as his fingers languidly withdrew from thick bandaging, their warmth trailing the toned curve of her arm.  
  
Impulsively, Kurtis bent and lightly kissed the exposed curve of her neck, breathing her scent for a moment. He drew back, his face unchanging from its usual impassiveness, and stepped over her prone figure.  
  
Crouching on the opposite side now, he brushed tentative fingers across her cool brow, tucking loosened strands of hair behind one ear. Something flickered briefly in indifferent cerulean orbs, and he leaned over once more to set his mouth against the silken flesh of her forehead.  
  
Then, wistfully eyeing the tempting fullness of her lips, he rose, and retreated to his own makeshift bed.  
  
* * *  
  
He stared numbly at the beauty of her features, slack in their final rest.  
  
She contemplated him blankly through death-frosted eyes, their absolute emptiness freezing his heart as even the sight of crimson liquid flowing thick over an ample chest had not been able to do.  
  
Kurtis swallowed thickly, and dropped to shaking knees beside her.  
  
Grief rose inside him, its passage brutal, tearing at each nerve, plunging the world to blackness before him for a moment. His eyes, so uncaring and detached to most despite their haunting beauty, roiled now with emotion, glistening beneath warm dampness.  
  
He reached haltingly for her hand, encircling the motionless wrist, and bringing it to his face, pressing its frigid surface to one stubble-shaded cheek. Her limp fingers jerked in his trembling grip, slick with gore.  
  
Wetness streaked both cheekbones, the tenuous hold he maintained over his anger and anguish slowly, inevitably fraying.  
  
He gathered Lara in his arms and rocked them both, cradling her fiercely to him for long moments, his face sinking to the thick dark cord of her hair.  
  
"Kurtis."  
  
He mumbled something in sleep, both heavy brows tightening over closed eyes.  
  
"Kurtis." A hand touched his shoulder. Dimly, still half-asleep, he felt himself being jostled by some unseen assailant. He struck out with one hand, the hard fist impacting soft flesh. "Ouch! You bastard!"  
  
Something thrust hard against his head, its unyielding surface hurling him fully into consciousness. He cracked an eye at his attacker, glaring upward into blinding sunlight. For a moment he simply gazed at her, the glare dissipating for a few seconds as he recalled her face as he'd last seen it, in the disturbing dream she'd roused him from. Then, reining in his emotions, he resumed his previous unpleasant expression.  
  
"What the fuck, Croft?" Kurtis murmured roughly, trailing a hand down his unshaven face. "What goddamn time is it?"  
  
"6:00."  
  
"In the morning?" he snapped, looking more pissed than she'd ever seen him. "Get the hell away from me. I've only been asleep a few hours."  
  
"Someone isn't a morning person." she replied dryly, tapping a boot lightly against his forehead in an effort to irritate him further. He looked sinfully sexy for someone who'd just been awakened after only four or five hours of sleep, a fact that didn't fail to aggravate her.  
  
He shoved her foot away and flopped over on his stomach, burying his face within the soft ripples of his sleeping bag.  
  
She persisted, planting one booted foot against his back now, its weight resting uncomfortably against hard muscles. He muttered a few words which she did not quite catch, but rightly guessed were not complimentary. "Rise and shine. We've got work to do. The 4th Shard still needs to be recovered from the temple's wreckage. We can't leave here without it, and I'm already a little sick of this place, so I'd like to get this over with as soon as possible if you don't mind."  
  
He curved both hands over his ears in response, the ring he wore glinting in a sudden flare of brilliance, its edges trapped within effulgent sunlight. Lara, drawn by its abrupt sparkle, reached down, and deftly slipped it off his finger.  
  
Its sudden removal claimed his attention, as she had hoped.  
  
She twirled it on one slim finger, full lips curving slightly beneath the weight of his glower. "This is awfully pretty for a rugged he-man such as yourself."  
  
He held out a hand for it without speaking.  
  
She paced backward a step, lifting the small object to dark eyes in an attempt to scrutinize it further, her perusal thorough as she kept one eye carefully trained on him.  
  
"Lara..."  
  
"What's that, Kurtis? You'd like me to play an elaborate game of keep-away with you because you love being teased and annoyed after only three hours of sleep?" She shrugged. "All right. But remember, I'm just doing this because you asked me to."  
  
He rose, scowling, barefoot and bare-chested, dark hair lying adorably disheveled and tousled over stormy indigo orbs.  
  
She paused, allowing him to move close, their bodies nearly grazing one another. His scowl slipped at her nearness, the anger dissipating from the beautiful depths of his gaze.  
  
Her own gaze surged upward to twine as one with his. The tangible pull between them, the spark which always seemed present and prepared to ignite any moment suddenly flared hotter, its presence no longer dormant and silent.  
  
*Go around him, dammit!* a voice screamed, at the same moment another one was attempting to persuade her to ravage him.  
  
He lifted an arm, and she ducked beneath it, wondering for a brief second whether he'd meant to embrace her or simply been reaching for the stolen object she gripped in a white-knuckled fist.  
  
She felt perspiration slick both palms beneath the gloves she wore, her pounding heart thundering within sensitive ears. Its drumming rhythm intensified, strangely augmented in the tense quiet. *This is ridiculous. I feel like a bloody child, running away from him like this. Why don't I just stick my tongue out and say 'Nyah nyah nyah I've got your toy!'?"*  
  
He closed a powerful hand over her forearm as she lunged from him, the crushing grip halting her momentum instantly. Roughly, he spun Lara into his arms, yanking her against his naked chest, her body pressed all along his now. She opened her mouth to voice a stream of particularly unlady-like words at his rude handling, and now his lips slammed down on hers, effectively ending whatever barrage of insults she'd been about to utter.  
  
The kiss was the complete antithesis to the one they'd shared in his father's study; rough and hard, his mouth devouring hers, both arms grinding her against him as close as humanly possible while both were still fully clothed. He almost seemed to be reassuring himself of her presence, as though he'd nearly lost her and now intended to make sure she was indeed real and alive.  
  
Her eyes fluttered automatically shut at his touch, and she found herself responding, both hands tangling in his hair, supple body arching against his. She could hardly breathe, so tight was he holding her, but it was a distant thought, one that hardly registered in her lust-fogged mind.  
  
She felt his tongue slip along the curve of her bottom lip, and parted her lips to allow him entrance.  
  
He tasted her thoroughly, showing no sign of drawing away anytime soon, their tongues writhing against one another, breath flowing raggedly through flaring nostrils. His mouth moved hard and passionately against her own, his masculine scent filling her nostrils as they kissed.  
  
He lifted her slightly, narrowing the distance between their bowed faces even more, his grip never slackening. His hand trailed the soft curve of her back, slipping teasingly beneath the hem of her shirt, smoothing over warm flesh and raising unblemished skin in goosebumps.  
  
Her hands began to explore him as well, skimming light fingertips over strong broad shoulders then cupping them in both gloved palms, her teeth gently nipping his open mouth. He pushed harder against her in response, probing the depths of her mouth with his tongue, tracing the fullness of her lips, then thrusting back into the warmth of her mouth, his hands settling against her voluptuous hips.  
  
Finally they separated, their lips no longer touching but their bodies still crushed against one another. He peered, startled, into her eyes, his face still close enough to kiss, should she close the mere two inches between them. Both strong shoulders rose and fell in heavy breath, sleek with sweat, his breath caressing her face.  
  
He opened his arms, and she slid breathless to the ground. He eyed her without speaking, tempted to make a comment, unwilling to allow them both to ignore this sudden shift in their relationship, as they had once before.  
  
Talking, however, did not seem to be high on her to-do list for today. Or, at least, not now that he'd thrown himself at her and crammed his tongue down her throat, in a very un-Kurtis-like loss of control. Her face hardened slightly, closing him out, and he knew that he'd better savor the moment in the deepest corner of his mind, because there wouldn't be another one like it.  
  
"Here. I think you dropped this." she said, and tossed the shining object to him.  
  
He caught it one-handed, without taking his eyes from her.  
  
She turned her back on him, and strode off without another word.  
  
* * *  
  
"I wonder where our delightful little friend dragged himself off to. I hope he bled to death on the way." Lara said cheerfully. "Too bad it wouldn't be permanent." She lowered herself another few inches, carefully gouging both boots into the dirt cliff she clung to, then pausing to be sure of her balance before descending once more. Her muscles bunched with the effort, no climbing equipment present to assure against a nasty plunge.  
  
Kurtis, slightly above her, affording Lara a rather nice view of his ass on the rare occasion when she glanced up to check his progress, merely grunted in reply. "Reverting to your cave-man origins of communication, I see." she commented, easing herself down once more.  
  
*Maybe my lips or so swollen from kissing you that I can't talk right.* he fired back silently, then decided against such a response, as he'd been the one to initiate the kiss. *She did kiss me back though. It's not like I held her at gunpoint and threatened to kill her if she didn't shove her tongue down my throat.*  
  
Their light banter and bickering had picked up once more on the trek back to the crumpled remnants of the Lux Veritatis temple, the strained silence finally breaking when Lara voiced a rather offensive comment about his lack of intelligence, the prompting for such a remark eluding his memory at the moment. He'd still been reeling with her earlier brush-off, the rejection hurting more than he cared to admit, burning in his mind as though he were some damn angst-ridden teenage boy who'd just been ditched at prom.  
  
At times he found it difficult carrying on normal conversation, particularly when he kept envisioning them entwined and kissing hungrily. He could still taste her, still feel the press of her body on his, both hard and soft, every inch of her front molded to his. However, he'd disciplined himself long ago to shove aside any distractions, to bury them within the deepest recesses of his brain, and while Lara was certainly the most tempting of distractions he'd ever encountered, he was not about to allow some female to worm her way beneath his skin.  
  
"Reverting to your bitch-like origins, I see." he replied, clutching securely to the craggy surface of a protruding boulder.  
  
Lara glanced upward, a scowl marring full lips. "What was that?"  
  
He looked down, and caught her eyes. His mouth twisted in a sardonic half- smile, one she found both intriguing and adorable. "I think you heard me."  
  
"Why don't you come down closer so I can hear you better? Be careful, though. It's treacherous going. I wouldn't want you to have an accident and fall."  
  
"Your foot might not have the same reservations, though, when it kicks me in the ass and knocks me over the side."  
  
She smiled impishly. "It does seem to have a mind of its own at times."  
  
He shook his head, long bangs rustling over both heavy brows. Below, the sound of her graceful landing wafted to his keen ears, the thunk of boots impacting hard dirt reverberating over the lake's bottom.  
  
"Karel really did a number on this place." Lara murmured, surveying the destruction for a moment as he clambered downward. "You think we're going to be able to find anything? We don't have any sort of digging equipment." She snuck a quick glance over at him as he landed a few feet away, and rose, coiled muscles slowly untensing. The black T-shirt he'd donned clung to each muscle, enhancing a well-defined abdomen and toned arms. She swallowed hard, and looked away. *You could have had that. If you'd just let go for once and allowed yourself to finally be with him instead of pushing him away out of fear that you'd fall in love with him.* "I know you must think of yourself as the epitome of manliness, but I doubt even your brawn is going to lift some of this." she continued, thrusting aside the irritatingly correct voice inside her head. "Oh right, I forgot. You have magical powers."  
  
Kurtis smirked. "Jealous?"  
  
"What? That I can't make things fly through the air?" She waved a hand loftily in the air. "I can do that just fine. I just prefer to use different methods. I found that my .45, which you lost, did a fine job of clearing more than a few bad guys from my path."  
  
"You hold a grudge against everyone you come across?"  
  
"No, not usually; most people I don't like don't stay alive long enough for me to hold a grudge against them."  
  
He quirked both eyebrows. "Insinuating that you don't like me?"  
  
She paused a moment, and set a slender finger to her chin, as though the question required some pondering. "Well, I suppose you have a certain charm, but you don't shave and you do smoke, and you did steal my painting back in the Louvre, not to mention all my weapons. That alone makes you a prime candidate for an ass- kicking." she responded, with a nonchalant shrug, conveniently neglecting to mention that she found his rugged, unshaven appearance extremely sexy.  
  
"Hey, that was *my* painting. You just happened to get to it first."  
  
"I don't remember seeing your name written on it." She crossed both arms over her chest, and leveled him with a challenging look. "In fact-"  
  
Something shifted within the swirling depths of his eyes, and he shot a hand roughly up to clamp it over her parted lips. Her words fell muffled and unheard against the curve of his palm.  
  
He thrust his Boran X free of its restraints, and thumbed the safety.  
  
The pistol thundered once, and Lara dropped, spun, and came up in firing stance once more, Glock gripped steadily in both hands.  
  
They emerged from thick foliage, gripping deadly automatic weapons, a dozen in all, cold features unchanging even as their companion slumped dead before them, Kurtis' bullet thrusting through bone and brain tissue to explode the man's head.  
  
*Shit! An ambush. And we walked right into it.* Lara thought angrily, the barrel of her weapon surging to the man nearest her.  
  
Kurtis stepped up beside her, their bodies touching, his pistol leveled before him as well, no sign of surrender present within icy orbs.  
  
"What do you say? Divide them between us? You take six, I take six?" she said casually.  
  
"Sure. Hundred bucks says I can pop at least three of them before they kill me."  
  
"I didn't say it was the best idea I've ever had."  
  
"Weapons on the ground, please. My men have orders to shoot you if you open fire." a new voice intervened.  
  
"Gunderson." Kurtis whispered grimly beside her.  
  
His tall, intimidating figure strode from the jungle's concealing plantlife now, as formidable as Kurtis remembered, a holstered pistol present at one thick hip. He tread surprisingly lightly toward them, boots thrumming against dirt almost silently. "Kurtis Trent, you were always a reasonably intelligent man. I think it would be in your best interest to put away your weapon. Or rather, in *her* best interest." He motioned to the darkly-garbed figures encircling Lara and Kurtis. All guns automatically slipped to target Lara's beautiful features. "I don't think you can take them all out before one of them manages to kill her."  
  
*Fuck.* Kurtis thought savagely, perusing his former employer through chill, hardened eyes. Gunderson had always possessed an uncanny talent for recognizing another's weakness. Had Kurtis been alone, he'd have most likely began firing and made a desperate run for it, damn the consequences.  
  
But not now. Not now they had Lara at the business end of a dozen separate firearms.  
  
Hesitantly, he relinquished his weapon, slipping one tense finger from the trigger and tossing the Boran X unceremoniously to the ground. His Chirugai swayed lightly with the savage motion, its movement thankfully unnoticed by Gunderson.  
  
Lara reluctantly loosened her hold on the Glock, and a soldier paced forward to relieve her of it. Dark orbs converged on him in a nasty glare, brows growing taut with its malevolence. Another man stepped forward to tightly grip her arm, their weapons lowering now that their quarry had given up.  
  
The Chirugai snapped free of Kurtis' belt, and spun outward, deadly blades thrusting tender flesh, shredding deep into pulsing veins, hot gore erupting over its metal exterior.  
  
A scream ascended the sky, the sickening cry mercilessly cut short as slashing blades severed a gasping throat. The shriek abruptly dissolved into a gurgle, blood foaming thick to parted lips, blood vessels bursting in both widened eyes.  
  
The man gripping Lara drooped against her, and she tore from his dying hold.  
  
Kurtis' Glaive slipped over his waiting fingers, the blades slowly, lethargically withdrawing into waiting steel. "Don't touch her." he ordered coldly, and murder glinted coolly in his intense gaze.  
  
Gunderson lifted both brows slightly, fear churning briefly inside him.  
  
"Where's Karel?" Lara demanded, stepping back to join Kurtis.  
  
"Healing. He needs time to regenerate after his encounter with the two of you. But he'll be waiting for us. He has plenty he'd like to do with you both."  
  
"What does Karel need the two of us for? We're not a part of his sick quest for world domination." Lara replied. "We're interested in killing him-not becoming a part of whatever strange plan his demented little Nephilim mind has cooked up."  
  
Gunderson smiled coldly. "You're not the real prize, Ms. Croft. Mr. Trent, as the last surviving Lux Veritatis initiate, is vitally important to the Great Work. But Karel wanted you as well, for your mental and physical prowess, and your well- known durability."  
  
"Durability."  
  
"Yes. A good trait for the entirety of the Nephilim race."  
  
"And Karel is going to inject me with a magic potion which will extract that specific trait, so he can pass it along to his human/angel hybrids?" she retorted sarcastically.  
  
"Perhaps. I'm sure Master Karel will be more than happy to explain everything to you."  
  
Lara blinked, features expressionless. Kurtis shifted warily beside her, and she felt his arm glide gently against her own as he reached for the Chirugai he'd slipped back into his belt.  
  
She clasped his hand in strong fingers, halting its motion, unwavering gaze never straying from Gunderson's impassive features. *Don't do anything stupid, you overgrown gorilla. He'll kill one or both of us the next time you try your stunt with that fancy little frisbee, no matter what shit he's spouting about Karel needing us for the Great Work.*  
  
"Who don't you tell us yourself, before I get really nasty?" she pressed, squeezing Kurtis' hand with bone-crushing force before releasing it. "And if Kurtis is so vitally important to this 'Great Work,' why did Karel nearly kill him just the night before?"  
  
"He can be taken dead. His body is valuable to us, alive or slain. But Karel prefers you both alive. Which is why I hope you will both cooperate, and not force me to shoot you."  
  
"Well when you ask so politely..." Lara remarked dryly.  
  
Gunderson smiled without humor. "If you please, we have quite a long hike before we reach the rendezvous point. There will be a helicopter waiting to airlift you to Karel. If you would hand over all your equipment and weapons?"  
  
Kurtis smiled grimly. "No thanks."  
  
"It wasn't a request."  
  
Lara shifted a hand protectively to the pack lying heavy and still over both softly rounded shoulders. "If you don't mind, I'd rather keep it. Feminine products and that sort of thing. A woman has her needs."  
  
Gunderson looked briefly to Kurtis, who stood smirking at Lara's show of defiance. "If you value her life, you might want to advise your friend to stop fooling around."  
  
"I don't own her."  
  
"Yes. What do you think I am? His pet dog?"  
  
"Kill her." Gunderson ordered apathetically.  
  
All around them, weapons surged upward once more, eager fingers slipping down chill metal to caress waiting triggers.  
  
Kurtis' sudden lunge surprised even Lara, the abrupt motion nearly a blur as he thrust his own body in front of hers. His larger frame obscured her own slender one, muscles corded in anticipation, perspiration trickling downward beneath the thin material of his shirt to kiss the tense curve of his spine.  
  
"Weapons up." Gunderson barked, and something sinister glistened deep within otherwise blank dark eyes.  
  
She set a hand gently against Kurtis' back, and moved him aside, loosening the straps of her bag. Warily, she removed it and handed it across to Gunderson. "Here. Now, maybe we can get this show on the road. I haven't been for a helicopter ride in over a year."  
  
* * *  
  
Its rotors thrust thick jungle air savagely, the helicopter's thrumming blades thundering above them as the weighty aircraft slowly ascended humid sky. Through lucid glass windows, Lara glimpsed the verdant brilliance of the Amazon as it grew smaller beneath them, the craft rapidly gaining altitude.  
  
Her russet gaze slipped unnoticed to Kurtis, who perched close beside her, both strong arms bound at his back. He leaned uncomfortably against the hardness of the helicopter's side, hands bent awkwardly, violent cramps searing them.  
  
Surrounding them, large crates sheathed both from prying eyes, the cargo area they'd been unceremoniously tossed into allowing them a moment of privacy. Their legs lay intimately entwined, courtesy of the hard tumble they'd taken from Gunderson's brutish men, their bodies thrown quite literally against the wall.  
  
His warmth burned against the exposed flesh of her shapely legs, her now- empty gunbelt jabbing the firm, athletic solidness of his waist. She snuck another glance at him through thick dark lashes, her skin flaring white-hot beneath his touch.  
  
He looked over at her, and she hastily turned her head, chagrined at having been caught gaping.  
  
"Can you reach my back pocket?" he asked quietly, his lips close beside her ear. His breath lightly caressed the flesh of her earlobe, its gentle contact prompting a shiver unbidden down her spine.  
  
"Kurtis, if you're scared, I suggest maybe picking up a teddy bear when we're back in civilization. I've heard they make wonderful security blankets. Getting comfort from a girl fondling your ass is a bit over the top, if you ask me."  
  
"You're a riot, Lara."  
  
"I try." she said with a shrug, slyly mocking the phrase he'd uttered only days ago in his father's study.  
  
"There's a knife in my back pocket."  
  
"Gunderson didn't do a very thorough job in searching us for weapons. I have a gun in my bra." Lara replied, with a smile. "I'm not sure I can get to your knife. You must be sitting on most of it."  
  
He transferred his weight to the opposite hip.  
  
"Try it now."  
  
She stirred against him, and he felt her hand slip lightly across his hip, the angle awkward but doable for her more flexible body. Her wandering fingertips now brushed weightlessly across the curve of his ass, and he tensed.  
  
"This is purely in the interest of saving both of us. I'm not about to take this up as a regular hobby in my off-time, you know." *Good Lord, does the man have an ounce of fat on him *anywhere*?*  
  
He remained silent, not speaking as her hand twisted ungracefully, its warmth curling over the edge of his back pocket now, groping for the blade he'd spoken of. He felt his breath catch slightly in his throat, and swallowed hard.  
  
Vibrant color flowered in both high cheekbones, heat spreading all throughout her face as she fumbled for the knife's smooth handle. Finally clasping it, she inched her fingers out once more, twisting and writhing against him in her effort to free the weapon.  
  
"Got it?" he asked brusquely, relieved his voice sounded normal.  
  
"Yes."  
  
The shining blade thrust outward with an audible *snick!*  
  
She maneuvered in closer to him, and began to hack at the rope binding his wrists, sawing precariously near tender flesh.  
  
"Easy." Kurtis hissed. "I won't be able to do much good if you cut both of my hands off."  
  
"All right, then how about I just cut your big loud mouth off?" Lara retorted, her gaze plunging up to hold his own, fiery dark eyes perusing him intensely. The heat of her body settled thickly over him, its warmth stroking perspiration-glazed flesh.  
  
"Just keep cutting." he said quietly, his eyes boring with equal fervor into hers. "The *rope*." he added as an afterthought. *And quit looking at me, because I want to kiss you.*  
  
He felt the jungle's oppressive atmosphere, its thick hotness flowing through the chopper's open doors, falling sultry and heavy across his sweating body. The clinging sweetness of damp foliage wafted gently to him, threading the breeze to softly tempt his keen nose. He leaned against Lara as she worked, her small lithe body alternately tensing and slackening with the rhythmic motion of his knife. Her hair tumbled thick and silken over his left arm, its length teasing goosebumps to taut flesh.  
  
"Got it." she murmured, and eased backward.  
  
Kurtis rose, shaking out his arms, both limbs stiff and numb.  
  
Lara tossed the weapon down, and nudged it toward him with a booted foot.  
  
He seized it, and crouched beside her. Her own ropes fell limp and pliant to the floor only thirty seconds or so later, his freedom allowing him to move much more quickly and skillfully than Lara had been able to.  
  
"Your Chirugai?" Lara whispered, accepting his hand and standing.  
  
"Gunderson has it. On his belt."  
  
"Good. At least it's accessible. I half expected them to chuck it over the side or something. I believe you scared the piss out of them after you cut through one of their heads with it."  
  
He half-smiled in acknowledgment of her comment. "I'll take out the guards. You go for the pilot."  
  
"Doable." Lara agreed.  
  
* * *  
  
She struck swiftly, moving with supple ease through undulating shadows, her presence unnoticed by either Gunderson or the pilot. The staccato drumming of the rotors overhead cloaked all noise made by the quiet tread of her boots over chill steel.  
  
She reached deceptively slender hands for the pilot's neck, slipping strong fingers over exposed flesh. "What the fu-" he yelled in alarm, the curse ended mid-word as she wrenched his head at an odd angle. The vicious parting of sinew and bone reverberated surprisingly loud in her ears.  
  
Gunderson twisted immediately in his seat, one large hand surging to the pistol dangling at his side. Lara pit both hands against the back of the pilot's chair, thrusting herself upward, one boot plunging out to ram deep into his throat.  
  
A startled gurgle died uselessly against full lips, his grip on his weapon loosening.  
  
She slammed one small hard fist into the firmness of his jaw, hurling him backward to lie gasping against the control panel.  
  
He thrust to his feet, swaying slightly, immense frame unsteady beneath the unexpected barrage delivered by this slender woman. She snatched Kurtis' Glaive from his belt and chucked it over her shoulder, wondering briefly why he hadn't collected it himself yet.  
  
They circled one another warily now, shadows twining as one and then fracturing as they sought the other's weakness. Gunderson had retreated to the cockpit's opening, and slipped through it now, backing into the cargo bay area.  
  
The floor lay thick with bodies beneath them.  
  
Thankfully, the chopper had only been able to accommodate four men besides Gunderson, Lara, Kurtis, and the pilot, leaving them with much more agreeable odds. She suspected these remaining men were the ones Karel placed his trust in, the ones privy to his location, while the others were mere hired goons who would be picked up in a later aircraft, and most likely quietly disposed of.  
  
"Lara." a voice called from behind her, and she chanced a glance out of the corner of her eye to his familiar figure. Something glinted in his right hand, and she plunged out her own hand to catch it as he lobbed the slender dark object across the space separating them.  
  
"Always feel better with one of these in my hand." she commented, and thumbed the safety on her Glock, which he must have pilfered from one of the guards.  
  
Its barrel surged to target Gunderson's impassive features.  
  
He lunged with surprising speed, one strong arm encircling Kurtis and thrusting her companion up against his hard chest as the other hand retrieved his holstered pistol. Chill steel settled against Kurtis' temple, the Lux Veritatis initiate not even blinking at this sudden turn of events.  
  
Dark eyes sought emotionless cerulean ones, probing deeply for a moment as her gun wavered slightly.  
  
Gunderson pulled Kurtis in front of him as a shield, taking care to crouch slightly so his taller frame was completely sheathed by Kurtis' hard body.  
  
Lara swallowed hard.  
  
"Put down your gun."  
  
Gunderson stood just within the helicopter's opening, precariously close to its edge, his arm tightening vise-like around Kurtis' middle. Her companion's familiar lips parted in an involuntary gasp, seeking precious air, beautiful eyes widening slightly.  
  
Dampness caressed the flesh of her back beneath the tank top she wore. Sweat trickled in a meandering stream over heated flesh, its passage tightening skin at its loathsome touch.  
  
"Put down your gun." he repeated.  
  
One strong finger bucked restlessly against the trigger guard, trembling with a sudden ferocity. She darted a tongue out to moisten parched lips, her weapon unmoving from its position.  
  
Kurtis peered almost unconcernedly at her, and she read the resignation in the swirling intensity of his gaze.  
  
"I'm sorry." Lara whispered. *But whatever they're planning to do to you is much worse than a quick bullet to the forehead.*  
  
She aimed, taking a two-handed grip to steady her quivering arm. A thick lump rose to crust the interior of her throat, its presence making it extremely difficult for her to swallow.  
  
She touched a finger to the trigger, and steadily tightened its tip against cool metal.  
  
The bullet struck him dead-center between brilliant cerulean orbs, his body sagging instantly against Gunderson. Kurtis' sudden deadweight forced his assailant off balance, the man's arms backpedaling fiercely as he struggled to regain his footing, terror enshrouding widened verdant eyes for a single moment.  
  
Lips thrust wide in a final scream, and they plunged together into open air. 


	11. Chapter Ten

A/N: Bad bad bad bad bad bad bad Horsecrazy! I let this go for so long without updating...and the worst part is that I've already written the rest of this story. It's completely finished, I've just been lazy about posting chapters. So you have my permission to kick my lazy ass.  
  
Disclaimer: All aspects of Tomb Raider belong to Eidos Interactive and Crystal Dynamics, not me. Meaning Lara is theirs, Kurtis is theirs, (darn!) and anything else you recognize.  
  
Chapter Ten  
  
____________________________________________________________________  
  
Amazon  
  
South America, August 15th, 2003  
  
Gunderson's final scream dissolved into nothingness, the acute note of terror dissipating in the Amazon's covetous embrace, cut sickeningly short as their bodies came to a final rest against the land far below. Crimson fluid spread across damp soil, its momentary warmth seeping from Gunderson's inert form.  
  
Beside him, Kurtis lay still and silent, beautiful gaze forever blank and staring. Between both heavy eyebrows rested the mark of the bullet's brutal passage, the single trickle of gore already drying to dull chestnut.  
  
* * *  
  
She stepped weakly to the helicopter's opening, her gun-filled hand drooping slackly to one side. Wide-eyed, Lara peered downward through swirling condensation, moist heat curling lazily from the Amazon's surface. *Oh God.*  
  
Numbly, her gaze unmoving from the place he'd disappeared, she slowly holstered her pistol and set one hand against the wall beside her. Its chill exterior cooled sweating fingertips, the comfort only physical as her heart constricted painfully within the confines of her chest.  
  
Lara's head snapped up, to peruse her surroundings.  
  
Silence. Stillness, all around her. She was completely, utterly alone, the chopper devoid of all other life. *Oh God. I've made a mistake...*  
  
She pictured his body, lying broken and mangled far beneath the hovering aircraft, the acceptance in those captivating eyes in the final few moments before she'd murdered him lingering painfully. He'd uttered no protest, made no proclamations of hate or regret. He'd known that to set down her weapon would have meant disaster for both of them, and so acknowledged that at least Lara would be saved if he and Gunderson both took a tumble out the open door.  
  
Her knees trembled and buckled beneath her.  
  
She scowled and thrust herself back up, disgusted at her own weakness.  
  
*I thought you were Karel.* she thought, agony passing all throughout her. *There were only three bodies on the floor...I thought Karel must have disguised himself as one of the soldiers and then taken on your shape to fool me into giving myself over to Gunderson. Kurtis...*  
  
Her eyes slipped closed.  
  
Would the outcome have been any different, had there not been the persistent thought that the Kurtis standing before her, held captive by Gunderson, was actually Karel? Would she have failed to make the shot, unable to pull the trigger on the man she'd come to like and respect despite all her protests to the contrary?  
  
*Yes.* Lara thought miserably. She'd almost been incapable of firing her gun even when she was relatively sure that Gunderson's prisoner had actually been the shape-shifting Nephilim. And now, it turned out she'd killed her companion after all. The fourth body must have merely been dragged off during the struggle, wedged behind one of the large crates, not morphed into Kurtis' enticing figure.  
  
She slammed a gloved fist into the solidity of the wall she leaned against.  
  
A hand closed over her shoulder.  
  
Both eyes flew wide, her elbow automatically plunging backward into waiting flesh, one hand seizing the Glock as she pivoted to face her attacker. The barrel of her weapon came to rest against his throat, and he froze obediently, lifting both hands in the air.  
  
He stood disheveled and tousle-haired, a dripping cut marring the left side of his handsome face. "You mind poking that thing somewhere else?" he said, pitching his voice loud to be heard over the thrum of whipping blades. He jerked a stubbled chin to her firearm, its tip still jabbing painfully into the tender flesh of his neck.  
  
"You prat!" Lara yelled, eyes flashing. She crammed her pistol angrily back into worn leather.  
  
Warily, Kurtis lowered his hands and thrust one back for the Chirugai lying dormant at their feet. It rose obediently to answer his call, just settling onto his extended fingers as a hand seized the front of his shirt. He whirled, stunned by the sudden violence of her motion, and she pulled him to her.  
  
Their lips met in a hard, possessive kiss. It lasted only a moment, so brief that he wondered if it had merely been a figment of his imagination.  
  
His stunned eyes bore intensely into her turbulent ones as they parted.  
  
"I thought I'd shot you!"  
  
"Do I look shot?" he retorted, irritation present in his tone. He didn't understand his sudden anger at her, though he suspected it might have something to do with the fact that she'd pulled so hastily from their embrace, before he'd even gotten a chance to respond to her unexpected kiss.  
  
"You look like hell, but not quite like I-got-shot-hell."  
  
"Thanks. Always good to know I have an admirer." He rolled his eyes.  
  
"You're welcome." she replied sarcastically, and yanked his head down to hers again.  
  
They kissed urgently, his larger mass pinning her against the wall, both strong hands settling on either side of her head, effectively trapping her in place. She didn't seem in a great hurry to go anywhere, however; her body pressed close to his, both hands cupping the back of his neck as her mouth moved willingly against his own.  
  
They broke off after a moment, breathing hard.  
  
The helicopter gave a sudden jolt beneath them as Kurtis moved back in close, his lips just barely grazing hers. "Who's flying the helicopter?" he asked a little drowsily, eyes clouded as though he'd just woken up.  
  
"That would be...no one."  
  
"That's never something you want to hear."  
  
He released her, and brushed past to enter the cockpit. She followed close behind, settling herself in the co-pilot's seat as he easily nudged aside the pilot's limp body and took up the controls himself.  
  
She glanced over at him. "You know how to fly?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Well...you're just full of surprises, aren't you?"  
  
He stirred reluctantly, the solid outline of Kurtis' lifeless body shimmering in an ethereal haze. A moment later, it flickered completely from view, and Karel lie gasping in his place, squinting into glaring sunlight with his single undamaged eye.  
  
The helicopter skimmed above his motionless form, a distant black speck against the immense azure sky overhead.  
  
He struggled upright, thrusting Gunderson's booted feet from their position across his legs, gaze tracking the chopper with unwavering persistence until it finally vanished from his sight, disappearing over a far horizon.  
  
* * *  
  
They set down in a small, civilized village just within the parameters of Peru only two and a half hours later. Their quest had fortunately not taken them too far into the depths of the immense Amazon, which stretched over 1.2 billion acres in a vast representation of over two-fifths of the gargantuan South American continent. Thus, the trip from it had not been over-taxing and exhausting, even after their brief struggle with Gunderson and his men.  
  
Their arrival in the helicopter caused a momentary stir in the villagers, who were not used to aircrafts landing in their crop fields. One particularly irate farmer who'd owned the property Kurtis chose to touch down on insisted they pay him money as compensation for the plants they'd surely destroyed. A brief, extremely effective glance at their weapons and hardened eyes stilled the arm-waving and shouting instantly.  
  
Lara disembarked first, swinging her pack over one shoulder and shooting a glance backward at her companion as he tread close behind her.  
  
"Don't you think we should have stopped off in Ecuador? That's where our plane landed, and where you left your bike."  
  
"Not enough fuel. Someone wasn't considerate enough to give us enough to make it another country over."  
  
"Yes, Kurtis, how inattentive of them not to provide us with enough gas to make a proper escape from them." Lara commented, punctuating the sardonic remark with an eye-roll.  
  
"You know, some men don't like a sarcastic women."  
  
"Yes, but not you, judging by the way you mauled me at our campsite."  
  
"I knew you wanted me but were too shy to do anything about it. I was being a gentlemen."  
  
She snapped a hand up and slapped him upside the head as they strode side by side. "You know, Kurtis, some women don't like an arrogant man."  
  
And thus began the start of a long, drawn-out argument between the two as they traversed miles of land, their trek made interesting by traded repartee, the hike to a larger city where they would rent a hotel room for the night an arduous one.  
  
* * *  
  
He lay spread-eagled on the bed, clad only in jeans, the covers beneath his muscular body rumpled and disturbed. Both cerulean orbs traced the enticing curves of her figure as she bent over a small table, unaware of his perusal. She clutched a wrinkled and tattered sheet of parchment in a slender gloved hand, full lips pursed in concentration as she scanned its contents.  
  
The room was cheap, the entire establishment not exactly one which catered to a wholesome family image. The sleazy man staffing the front desk had given Lara an appreciative look as they entered, then shot Kurtis a man-to-man raised- eyebrow glance which could only be interpreted as "Damn, you lucky son of a bitch. Hit the jackpot, eh?"  
  
"You going to stop reading the same thing over and over again, or are you convinced it's going to start talking to you?"  
  
"Don't be an ass." Lara replied without looking at him.  
  
"Turn off the damn light. I want to sleep. We're leaving early tomorrow for Ecuador."  
  
"Is your arm broken? Turn off the light yourself."  
  
*And have you remove my face, along with a couple of other vital body parts, for taking away your reading light? No thanks.* he thought sarcastically, but didn't voice the silent reply.  
  
"Are you coming to bed?" Kurtis said brusquely, unmoving from his position.  
  
"Are you sleeping on the floor?" Lara retorted, glancing in his direction. She quirked one eyebrow and folded the item which had held her so captivated, slipping it into a front pocket.  
  
"Do I look like I have any intention of moving to the floor?" he asked, and thrust the covers up over himself in confirmation. "I'm not diseased. You're not going to die from spending one night in the same bed with me."  
  
"The gentlemanly thing to do would be to offer me the bed and sleep in the bath."  
  
"Fine. We'll role-play. You be the gentleman for tonight, I'll be the woman."  
  
She smirked. "Don't feel offended by this remark, but I have to say you're just about the ugliest woman I've ever seen. Not to mention, you're a little on the hairy side for a delicate lady. Must get a tad ridiculous, having to shave your face along with your legs and armpits."  
  
Kurtis nuzzled his face into the pillow's comforting depths, curving both arms around its bulk. He blinked upward, staring into her beautiful features. "Go to sleep, Lara."  
  
"Bravo. I have to remember that witty comeback for myself. You don't mind if I borrow it for a special occasion, do you?"  
  
His thick brows knit in a glare. "Go to sleep, dammit. On the floor or in the bed, I don't care. Maybe even hanging partway out the window."  
  
"So you can give me a little nudge in the middle of the night?"  
  
"Maybe if you don't learn the beauty of silence."  
  
"You're such a darling man, Kurtis. I bet you're a charming dinner companion."  
  
"I don't attend any of those fancy fairy buffets the rich throw, the kind where you'd refer to your date as a damn 'dinner companion.'"  
  
Lara crossed both arms over her chest, and paced a step nearer the bed. "You do realize I'm one of the 'fancy fairy rich' you speak so fondly of."  
  
He smirked and eased both eyes shut, her image still lingering before him. "Sure. Got it on a file."  
  
"You have a file on me?"  
  
"I found your biography on an Internet site called The Exploits of The Rich And Famous: The Kinky, The Nasty And Various Nude Photographs of Elite Women. You should know your section is the most popular."  
  
"Shut up." she demanded, without the anger she'd intended to inject in her tone. Her fingers seized the pillow he did not have crushed against his body, and it slammed down atop his head.  
  
He cracked an eye at her. "Stop it."  
  
"Or what? You'll use your super powers on me?" Lara challenged, cocking a voluptuous hip slightly to one side. She raised her weapon once more, and he lunged suddenly, the covers hurled from his shirtless body as he wrestled the pillow from her powerful grip. She landed a punch on the side of his head, a well-placed hit which plunged the world to blackness before him for a moment.  
  
A chuckle parted full lips, a moment before he wrapped both strong arms around her waist and heaved backward, spilling them both onto the bed. She fell straddling him, shapely thighs hugging either side of his hard waist.  
  
They stilled all motion, frozen in that intimate position, both hearts suddenly pounding more insistently. Slowly, almost lethargically, Kurtis lifted himself on his elbows, narrowing the distance between them.  
  
Lara rolled off him, pressing her face to the bed's unpleasantly solid mattress to avoid the heat of his gaze. *No. I've already given in and kissed him today. Three times.*  
  
He didn't pursue her, instead settling back down against his pillow, lying face-up this time. She lay rigid beside him, careful not to allow any part of their bodies to touch. Silence hung thickly, its unnerving presence settling heavily across her tense body. "I suppose we should stop doing this." she said quietly after a moment.  
  
"Doing what?" Kurtis replied coolly.  
  
"Groping each other, then pretending it didn't happen, then groping each other again, and retreating into ignorance once more."  
  
"So you think we should grope each other and acknowledge it?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow at Lara. Cautiously, almost tentatively, he reached out and trailed a gentle finger down the exposed flesh of her arm, the featherlight contact prompting a shiver all throughout her. Angry with herself for such a reaction, she seized his hand in hers, and flung it away more forcefully than she'd intended.  
  
"Kurtis, you have to understand something. I'm a loner."  
  
"So am I."  
  
She continued on, heedless of his interruption. "I'm not a social butterfly who flits from man to man, giggling and flirting the whole way. I enjoy handling guns and adventuring into places that have been untouched for thousands of years. That doesn't leave much time for a man in my life. In fact, I've never really had a relationship before. Not a lasting one, anyway. Men are fine to look at, until they open their mouths and begin talking about themselves, and suddenly you cease to exist." Lara finished dryly, rolling her eyes.  
  
"I'm not interested in getting involved." Kurtis responded impassively, without looking at her. *Liar.* a voice whispered in the back of his mind.  
  
"Oh, I see. You were just looking for a little physical gratification, then. The revenge business doesn't leave much time for pleasuring yourself, does it?" she snapped.  
  
"Speak for yourself, Ms. Croft." Kurtis retorted sharply. "Don't tell me you were conducting a scientific experiment on how long two people could go without breathing while they had their tongues crammed down each other's throats when you kissed me."  
  
"Actually, I was attempting to kill your tiny, insignificant little brain by cutting off its oxygen supply. That should only take a few seconds or so, wouldn't you say, when the object is only three centimeters across?" Lara shot back sarcastically.  
  
He surged to his knees, both hands clenching to lie as hard fists against either side of his body. His eyes sought hers, their shimmering depths flashing as pure ice as they faced down, both impressively riled now. "Really. Is that why you seemed ready and willing to go for another hour or so?"  
  
"Get out of my bed!" she snapped again, eyes flashing. "This is ridiculous. You're acting like a child."  
  
"I'm acting like a child?"  
  
"You're right, I'm sorry. That was probably just about the worst insult I could bestow on poor, innocent children everywhere. You're acting like a monkey. One of those big, stupid, lumbering gorillas who couldn't do anything more than punch their way out of a paper bag, if only they could figure out that their fist is stronger than the bag."  
  
"Wow. I think I need counseling now, after that harsh remark." he replied, eyeing her indifferently from beneath thick dark brows.  
  
"Yes, well I think that should have been suggested to you a long time ago. Now, get off my bed. I'd like to go to sleep, if you don't mind."  
  
"It's not your bed."  
  
"I'm declaring it my bed. If you want to argue, please direct your comments to my friend, Mr. Nine Millimeter. He's going to be joining the discussion in another moment or two."  
  
Kurtis smirked, no humor present within the empty twisting of his lips. "You're not going to shoot me."  
  
"There are a lot of men who have said that to me. You're the only one who's survived."  
  
Studying her intensely for a moment, both beautiful eyes probing her own, Kurtis finally settled back down, his body slackening, flopping backward to lie motionless against his designated side of the bed.  
  
Lara peered downward, into the rugged, handsome planes of his face, then turned and began to remove her boots. "If I find you rubbing yourself up against any part of my body during the night, be aware that my gun will make a prompt appearance. I don't care how sexy you are-" She ceased speaking immediately, mahogany orbs widening. *Bloody hell! I can't believe I just said that aloud.*  
  
"Now try telling me you're not attracted to me." he said, a hint of amusement in the low rumbling tone of his voice.  
  
"Don't be such a smug little bastard!" Lara hissed, irritated as much with herself as with him. "If I were attracted to you, I'd admit it."  
  
"Fine. Then say you're not."  
  
"I'm not attracted to you."  
  
"Say it with a straight face, and look me in the eye."  
  
She twisted at the waist with a scowl, tearing her gloves free of perspiring flesh in a swift, savage motion. "I, Lara Croft, am not attracted to you, Kurtis Trent." she repeated, punctuating the statement with a jab to his chest, the poke delivered by a trembling fingertip.  
  
He snatched her wrist in an iron grip before she could retreat, and yanked her against the hardness of his bare chest, their mouths already touching before the space between them had completely dissipated. His toned arms encircled her slender waist, the damp warmth of his tongue flicking out to caress full lips. "Say it now." Kurtis whispered against her ear. She felt his teeth close gently against the tender flesh of her earlobe.  
  
Lara shivered and opened her mouth to protest, her mind clouded by desire and lust. "I'm not...dammit, what was I supposed to say again?"  
  
He smirked, and released her.  
  
*I hate you, you self-satisfied little American prat.* she thought viciously, and contemplated punching him in the head.  
  
He seemed to read her mind, and smirked again, infuriating her even more. "Don't feel bad that you're attracted to me. If I were a woman, I'd be attracted to me too."  
  
"Well, how nice that you're not too much in love with yourself or anything."  
  
"I'm just trying to make you feel better."  
  
"Yes, you're such a humanitarian, aren't you?" She thrust a fist into his shoulder, overcome with the urge to hit something. He was lucky she didn't choose his pointy little head to land her fist on.  
  
"Yeah; you're probably a little envious that I beat you out of the 'Most Loving Person of The Year' award."  
  
"Can we speed this up a bit? We're leaving early tomorrow for Ecuador, and I'd like to get some sleep, if you don't mind."  
  
"Really? You know, I hadn't realized that. I'm glad you pointed that out, Lara, otherwise I might have stayed up all night thinking I had plenty of time to sleep in."  
  
"Sarcasm doesn't become you, Kurtis." she pointed out, slipping beneath the covers and instantly thrusting her body to one side, jerking the shabby blankets from his body and swiftly rolling herself into them, cocoon-like. He bolted upright in response, both eyebrows surging upward in a 'What the hell?' expression. "Sleep well." Lara said, and smiled to herself.  
  
"Shouldn't you be attempting to act like a mature adult?"  
  
"I am. It's the bastard lying next to me who's an immature little wanker."  
  
"Don't throw your damn English terms at me." he snapped, and snatched for the covers she'd pilfered. She smacked his hand away, snuggling down against her pillow.  
  
"Would you prefer that I throw my boot at you instead?"  
  
"Fine. Just stop talking and go to sleep." Kurtis demanded, suddenly furious. There was no use in seeking comfort from the fact that she hadn't been able to deny her attraction to him after he'd kissed her-the admission, or rather non- admission meant nothing in the grand scheme of things. Whether or not she found herself wanting him, she was going to refuse to do anything about it, now that she'd tasted him, satisfied some of the sexual tension churning between them. That was painfully obvious to him.  
  
*The question is, why the hell do I care so much?* 


	12. Chapter Eleven

A/N: Ok, I felt bad about going so long without updating, so I'm putting two chapers up. They way you guys have lots to read. There is one more chapter after this, then a short epilogue, and Into The Dark is done. Finito. *Sniff* My baby. There is a sequel, however, and it already has several chapters written, so Lara and Kurtis' story isn't done yet.  
  
Disclaimer: Lara Croft, Kurtis Trent, and all other characters affiliated with Tomb Raider are the property of Eidos and Crystal Dynamics. I own nothing. (Except a few pieces of dirty laundry, (damn, wash day again!) various useless pieces of crap, the identities of which are to this day unknown, and a whole shitload of books.) :D  
  
Chapter Eleven  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
Motel Room  
  
Peru, August 16th, 2003  
  
She woke to his warmth, stirring lightly in the masculine arms encircling her slender figure.  
  
His hard body lay still against her own, a large palm curved over her deceptively fragile hands where they rested against the bed's surface. Their fingers entwined naturally, the move rendered sometime during the night, in slumber. His chest rose and fell softly against the arch of her back, the bare flesh of his chest grazing her with each gentle inhalation.  
  
Lara stiffened, even as her body longed to nestle against him, feel the heat emanating from his strong figure. She knew she should push him away, slap him upside the head to awaken him and start the daily festivities. But something within her rebelled, and instead she lay quietly, reluctant to rouse him. There was a quiet serenity in the moment, a complacent quality that did not often present itself in her active life.  
  
He breathed in softly, and moved lightly against her, his head shifting where it lay tucked beneath her chin, just above her chest. Dark hair rustled across the material of her shirt, long bangs tickling the tender flesh of her throat.  
  
Full lips curved in a slight smile.  
  
Kurtis' arms tightened ever-so-slightly, holding her to him more securely than before.  
  
Her gaze strayed to their entangled fingers, and the sight struck her as perfect and natural, as though their hands had been sculpted for one another. She twitched her fingers lightly in his, stroking a fingertip across the rough curve of his knuckle, callused flesh whispering softly against her own.  
  
He stirred again, and Lara froze, even her breath stilling as he inhaled deeply. Then he cradled her fingers more tightly, pulling the jumbled knot of hands up to rest against her stomach.  
  
She relaxed, both eyes fluttering shut.  
  
*I should kick him in the head. But this feels...nice. I suppose I'll allow him to keep all his body parts, as long as he doesn't try to pin this little...cuddling session on me. He's the one assaulting me in my sleep. This is entirely his fault. And right when I'm trying to make everything go back to being just 'business.'*  
  
She recalled another time, months ago, when he'd returned to 'save' her after trapping her in that shaft just within the Bio Research Center, and she'd introduced herself, then proceeded to pat him down for weapons with a brief "And this is business," to explain her actions. Even then she hadn't been entirely sure that anything between them could ever be classified as 'just business.'  
  
For all intents and purposes, he was still basically a stranger to her, and yet it seemed as though they'd known one another for years. There was a shared comradeship between them despite their many arguments and sarcastic comments. She'd never encountered someone so like herself before, and it frightened her even as it intrigued her. There was always a nagging fear at the back of her mind which kept her constantly on her toes, a thought that, would she allow herself the liberty, she could fall in love with Kurtis. It was something she'd worked her whole existence to avoid, shunning a conventional life of marriage and kids. That was something Lara had never wanted, assuming it would take too much away from her independence and restlessness. Falling in love with a man was the first step toward being tied down and suddenly finding herself in the role of a mother with six children, changing diapers and shuttling the little beasts off to school.  
  
Remembering this, Lara untangled her hands from his, and wriggled from his embrace. Unconsciously, Kurtis tightened his arms again, and rolled closer, the sheets twisting around their entwined bodies.  
  
Trapped within the circle of his arms, Lara began to flail, writhing against him in an effort to free herself. She struck out a hand, and heard him grunt as the impact abruptly stirred him from slumber. She felt almost panicked as she finally placed both hands against his chest and shoved hard, the knowledge of how much she enjoyed his touch a little too vivid for her taste.  
  
Lara caught a brief glimpse of wide-open azure eyes before Kurtis slipped off the bed's narrow edge, and thunked to the floor with a muttered curse.  
  
*Oops.*  
  
She jerked upright, and crawled warily to the end, peering downward into his irritated gaze. "Good morning."  
  
"What the hell did you do that for?" he demanded without rising from where he lay sprawled across thin carpeting.  
  
"You were crowding me."  
  
"I was sleeping."  
  
"Yes, with your arms around me and your body smashed up against the back of mine."  
  
He narrowed both eyes at her. "Whatever you were dreaming about must be crossing over into reality. I stayed on my side of the bed. All night." he added for clarification, though he vaguely recalled burrowing close to her sometime during the evening and falling back asleep with the sound of her thundering heart drumming beneath his ear.  
  
"Yes, I suppose my 'dream' was so powerful and vivid that it picked up your arms, put them around my waist, then forced you to go to sleep with your head on my chest."  
  
He returned her stare coldly, without replying.  
  
"You're just angry that I caught you acting like a human being for once." She paused, then continued on, mocking him. "Don't feel bad that you're attracted to me. If I were a man, I'd be attracted to me too."  
  
He propped himself up on one hand, tousling sleep-rumpled hair. "If you were a man you'd run screaming in the other direction from yourself."  
  
"You trying to say I have a bad attitude?"  
  
"You just smacked me in the head then shoved me off the bed for no reason. Draw your own conclusions."  
  
"I explained my reason. Just because you won't accept it doesn't mean it's not a legitimate argument."  
  
They stared one another down another moment, until Kurtis finally stood, muscles rippling powerfully. Lara turned away before he could spot the blush which flushed her entire face.  
  
*I wish he'd put a damned shirt on. He's doing it purposefully, just to tempt me.* she thought angrily.  
  
"We need to stop arguing and find Karel." Kurtis said abruptly, seating himself on the edge of the bed. "His work has to be destroyed, since we can't kill him without the Shard. With his prototypes and research all gone, he's just another crazy son of a bitch in a world full of them."  
  
"Ironic, isn't it, that just yesterday we were escaping the bastard, and now we're planning to seek him out." *It's also ironic that I'm trying my hardest to ignore how sexy you are, and you keep wandering around shirtless with your gorgeous body on display. I suppose as long as you're not naked I can mange to control myself...and that just conjured up images that aren't helping.*  
  
Lara coughed to dispel lingering images of bare flesh, avoiding his gaze.  
  
Kurtis flopped backward onto the bed, lying spread spread-eagled, another move by him that didn't exactly help to ease her fierce attraction. *Don't look at it...him! I meant him.* she scolded herself, squeezing both eyes shut. "What was the 'archaeological discovery' down in Cambodia that Karel played a role in?" Lara asked, carefully keeping herself distant from his warm body. "I didn't take the time to read the article."  
  
"Some sort of rock."  
  
"A rock?" Lara asked, lifting both eyebrows. "Do you mind being a little more specific?"  
  
"A tablet, I think, with some sort of inscription on it. There weren't very many details."  
  
"I'm sure that's the way Karel wanted it. You think it might have had something to do with the underground cities in Turkey, where the Nephilim stronghold supposedly is? Maybe the tablet was some sort of map, indicating where exactly the stronghold is located."  
  
"If Karel was taking an interest in it, the tablet must have had something to do with the Nephilim." He shrugged. "What, I don't know. If we can get our hands on it..."  
  
"My hands. We don't know where your hands have been."  
  
"Up your shirt." he replied flippantly.  
  
"Excuse me?" Lara barked, shooting him a stern look.  
  
"My hands. I was telling you where they've been." Kurtis explained, smirking.  
  
"I'm not finding you amusing right now. And how did we, once again, stray from the original subject? If you'd keep your mind on business and not keep conjuring made-up images of your hands roaming about my body..."  
  
"It wasn't made-up, if I remember correctly."  
  
"Then I think you need to remember again. And again, and again, until you finally remember that your hands have never been up my shirt." Lara said coldly.  
  
Kurtis placed both hands on either side of her body, and leaned in close, as though to kiss her, their mouths nearly grazing. Her lips parted automatically, waiting for him, even as a part of her rebelled at his nearness, a lingering scream drifting within her mind urging her to pull away. "You liked it." Kurtis whispered.  
  
*Kiss me, you annoying idiot, even though I'll have to punch you afterward.*  
  
He touched a fingertip to her chin, tilting her face, angling her lips to his. Then suddenly, he drew back, his breath falling warm across her features for a moment before fading completely.  
  
Lara blinked drowsily.  
  
They contemplated one another across the bed's span, eyes softer than usual. "Will you answer a few questions of mine?" Kurtis asked quietly.  
  
She quirked an eyebrow. "Yes."  
  
His lips curved faintly. "Truthfully?"  
  
"That depends on what kind of questions they are. And only if you'll answer a couple of my own."  
  
He thought a moment, smiled, then said: "Were you turned on by the way I disarmed you in the Louvre?"  
  
Lara scowled, and crossed both arms over her chest. "Not answering, Trent.  
  
Come up with a serious question if you want me to cooperate."  
  
He smiled again. "It was a serious question."  
  
"Then it's going into the 'I refuse to answer that' category. Next question, please."  
  
"What happened in Egypt?"  
  
She paled instantly, sun-darkened flesh waning to ashen pallidness. Her eyes dropped from his, and he felt his heart lurch in response, then immediately cursed himself for being weak. She dampened dry lips with the tip of her tongue, looking apprehensive.  
  
Lara took a moment to gather herself, then looked back up, avoiding his steady gaze. "What makes you think something happened in Egypt?"  
  
"You went pale as soon as you saw the map in my father's study."  
  
"Egypt is...complicated. It's a long story, which I'd rather not go into right now."  
  
He looked slightly hurt that she'd chosen not to confide in him, and his eyes hardened immediately, to cover up.  
  
She touched his arm lightly, fingertips lingering against warm flesh. "I'll tell you someday...maybe when it makes more sense to me. Just know that it's hard for me to talk about. Lots of bad memories." They stared at one another for a long, suspended moment in time, until Lara spoke again. "My turn? Or was there something else you wanted to know?"  
  
"No." he replied, sounding distant. "You go."  
  
"When was your father murdered?" Her hand remained on his arm, and he drew comfort from her touch as the question delved up memories best forgotten.  
  
"Two years ago." Kurtis responded brusquely.  
  
"Am I stepping over a line, asking about him?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then tell me what he was like."  
  
"Kind." Kurtis answered immediately. He absently smoothed a fingertip across his ring, caressing its shining exterior. Lara waited patiently, her hand lying silently against his arm, its weight oddly calming. "He read to me every night when I was a little boy, even though affection was frowned on in the Order. Attachment, even to your own kids, was looked down on, seen as a weakness."  
  
*I can understand that.* Lara thought. Hadn't she herself associated attachment with weakness many times? *I suppose I'm weak now, then.* She studied his profile from beneath thick lashes, and resisted the urge to reach out a hand and trail it down his face. "He must have been a good man."  
  
"He was. He wasn't an assassin." There was a steely iciness in his voice that startled her.  
  
"Kurtis, I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I've already apologized. It was wrong of me to accuse your father of being a killer."  
  
He looked down, his gaze surging to her hand where it rested against his exposed flesh. Slowly, reluctantly, he slipped a large strong palm over the top of her fingers. His warmth seared her flesh, heat undulating all throughout her. Their eyes met briefly as Kurtis threaded his fingers through hers.  
  
His face looked as hard and unreadable as always, but there was a strange softness in his eyes that she'd never seen before. He lifted their entwined hands to his lips, and planted a light kiss on her knuckles. She felt her breathing quicken, heartbeat accelerating.  
  
Then he dropped the bombshell.  
  
"I was the assassin, not my father."  
  
She stared at him a moment, uncomprehending. "You were an assassin." Lara repeated numbly. "The dagger belonged to you? The story about your father passing it on to you was bullshit?"  
  
"Yes. I lied." He kept a tight hold on her hand, afraid that if his grip slackened she'd pull away, and leave, turn her back on him.  
  
Her eyes grew cold, the warmth swirling in them a moment before obliterated by darkness. "I don't appreciate liars. Why didn't you come clean with me from the beginning?"  
  
"I'm not proud of my past. Just like I'm sure you're not proud of some of yours."  
  
"Great. You mean I've been placing my trust in a murderer-for-hire all this time? I hope someone doesn't put a hit out on me. It might be a bit uncomfortable to wake up to a knife being shoved into my ribs." she retorted sarcastically.  
  
"I'm not an assassin anymore." Kurtis snapped. *And even if I were, no one could make me kill you.*  
  
"How comforting. Don't tell me you found religion and decided to devote your life to helping blind children."  
  
"No. I help bitchy women who don't know any better than to shut off the power in a building full of hostile creatures."  
  
"You have a funny definition of 'help.' Do you normally 'help' people by trapping them in elevator shafts?" She leveled him with a glare. "And why are we still holding hands?"  
  
"You could pull away." he said, returning her icy stare.  
  
"So could you."  
  
"You're the one who was complaining about it."  
  
"You're the one who grabbed my hand." She paused a moment. "Dammit, Kurtis, why are we arguing again? This isn't getting us any closer to anything." Frustration rang thick in her tone.  
  
"Because you just found out I used to be an assassin."  
  
"It was a rhetorical question. And speaking of questions, now I have some more for you. And if I think you're lying..."  
  
"You'll spank me?" he asked sardonically, lifting both brows.  
  
"No, you'd enjoy that too much. Just know that you'll be too sore to sit down for at least a week."  
  
Kurtis smirked. "Promises, promises."  
  
"Don't be a prick. I know it's difficult for you to deny your true nature, but..."  
  
"Thanks. I really love the way you're so kind and warm toward me."  
  
"Shut up." She jabbed him hard in the chest. "Why did you join the assassin brotherhood?"  
  
"I was young, and naive. I left the Lux Veritatis at 19 and briefly joined the assassin brotherhood because they knew about my unique abilities and set out to recruit me. I didn't realize what I'd gotten into until it was too late."  
  
"Would you ever become an assassin again, if you needed money? Would you kill me for money?" Lara demanded.  
  
"No to both questions." Kurtis replied instantly.  
  
She perused him closely, probing his beautiful eyes with her own, until finally the lines carved in her forehead eased, and a scowl slipped from full lips. "I believe you."  
  
"Good."  
  
"What happened with Boaz?"  
  
"I shot her down, and a smaller creature slipped out of the body you saw. It attacked me and I shot it in the head a few times, then walked away, thinking I'd killed it. It stabbed me completely through the stomach. Here." He touched a finger to the scar she'd kissed two days ago. "Then I cut off its head with my Chirugai, and passed out."  
  
"And after that?" Lara prompted him, absently stretching her free hand out to pass a fingertip lightly over the raised edge of the scar marring otherwise smooth flesh.  
  
"I woke up and dragged myself off. Then I passed out again. I thought I was dead, until I woke up again a few hours later, lying in an alley with the wound bandaged. I used what little strength I had to heal myself. I don't know who brought me into the alley. For a while, I thought it must have been you who'd helped me."  
  
"Our little reunion at Daniel Grosser's apartment was the first time I'd seen you in months."  
  
He shrugged.  
  
"I'm going to hazard a guess and say it wasn't Boaz who helped you out." Lara said dryly.  
  
"Not after I gave her such a nice going-away present."  
  
"Anyway, you're alive, no matter who saved your ass." *Luckily.* "Maybe you even dragged yourself into the alley, and blacked out, and that's why you don't remember anything else."  
  
"Maybe." He quirked both brows. "Anymore of the interrogation left? Or is that it?"  
  
"I don't know. Anything else I should know about? Your mother was a donkey? You're really a woman?"  
  
"No and no."  
  
"Are you interested in a long-term relationship with some sort of exotic animal-a panther or baboon for example?"  
  
"No, and where do you come up with these kinds of questions?"  
  
"It's a talent Kurtis. An art, you could say."  
  
"Are *you* interested in a long-term relationship with some sort of exotic animal?" he countered.  
  
"No, thankfully. My fetishes don't extend into that sort of thing."  
  
"What do they extend into?"  
  
"You already know some of my interests. Traveling, guns, weapons of any kind actually. I have a passion for antique cars. I loathe snakes and once in a while I enjoy listening to classical music." She looked at him. "And you?"  
  
"Weapons, martial arts, motorcycles." *And more recently, a busty brunette with long hair and a don't-fuck-with-me attitude.*  
  
"I suppose it's about time we stop talking about nonsense and make a plan." Lara continued after a moment of silence. She realized, with some embarrassment, that their hands were still linked, and attempted to extract her fingers. He stared coolly at her, his grip unrelenting.  
  
Finally, just as Lara parted full lips to make a comment on his reluctance to release her, Kurtis let go, standing in a single fluid motion. His gaze didn't stray from her beautiful features. "Let's worry about getting to Ecuador first. Then we can figure out what to do about Karel."  
  
* * *  
  
His bike awaited him precisely where he'd left it, glistening beneath the rosy haze of a waning sun. He ran his fingertips over its shining exterior, relishing the feel of the machine beneath his hands once more.  
  
Lara stepped up beside him, one slender hand skimming his hip to caress the bulge in his front pocket where he'd stored his keys. "You should let me drive." she said, a teasing smile curving full lips. Her hand lingered a moment longer, its warmth burning through his pants to sear flesh.  
  
His throat constricted in a hard swallow. "I don't think so."  
  
She shrugged casually. "Shame you had to leave it here, but at least no one messed with it. They must have figured it belonged to a dangerous individual." The route they'd taken to Peru, an infrequently traveled, hazardous path, had been too treacherous for his bike. He'd seemed so regretful leaving it that she almost expected him to cry.  
  
*Men and their toys.* Lara thought with a roll of her eyes, conveniently forgetting her own attachment to certain vehicles residing in the Croft Manor garage.  
  
"Now, about getting to Cambodia...we'll have to make arrangements to take a ship across the Atlantic to Asia."  
  
"Too long." Kurtis said, straddling his bike. "It's faster to fly. We don't have a lot of time to waste."  
  
"Yes, but I'd rather not be too predictable in our traveling, if Karel's keeping a watch on us. And I still say we should have gone back for the 4th Shard. There's no way of killing Karel without it."  
  
"I don't think it's going to be a problem."  
  
Both brows surged upward. "Not a problem? Kurtis, we're dealing with a man-creature really-that can't be killed using any mortal means. The 4th Shard is the only way we can destroy him. And you think not obtaining this item really isn't a problem?"  
  
He dismounted his bike slowly, reaching out a hand to grasp her arm. "Come on. We'll figure it out later. Let's go find something to eat." Smiling coldly, hard eyes glinting in the fading remnants of sunlight, he drew her into the shadows. A pang reverberated throughout Lara, a brief ominous feeling. She followed a little hesitantly, some unnamed dread welling within her.  
  
His hand traversed the interior of her thigh, fingers slowly, seductively caressing perspiration-slick flesh. She stood frozen as his touch slowly migrated, drifting across the material of her shorts to the leg holster encasing her weapon.  
  
Her hand whipped out to grip his wrist in a bone-crushing grasp just as his fingertips grazed chill metal.  
  
He drew his Boran X in a movement so swift she hardly realized what had happened until she found the barrel of his gun crammed beneath her chin. He crushed her hard against his chest, their bodies sheathing the weapon from any passerby's. "Come on." he whispered harshly. "Let's take a walk."  
  
"What the hell are you doing?" Lara hissed.  
  
He smiled without humor. "Saving your life."  
  
"Karel." she breathed, peering upward into emotionless cerulean orbs. Her heart thumped once in shock and terror. "Get the hell off me! What did you do with Kurtis?"  
  
"I'm not Karel. Just keep moving." he said low in her ear, and began to walk backward now, pulling her with him, keeping her body close up against his to conceal his actions.  
  
She thrust a hand up to strike him across the face.  
  
He took the blow with a wince. "Lara, dammit, it's me!"  
  
She snapped a small hard fist into his solar plexus, doubling him over, thrusting a gasped breath through parted lips. He released her and she surged forward, arms pumping, easily dodging his clumsy grab as he reached for her again, still bent at the waist.  
  
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Boran X lift to target her sprinting body.  
  
She dove behind a nearby building, both arms instinctively plunging upward to shield her head.  
  
Kurtis' gun thundered.  
  
Lara jerked her own weapon free of its restraints, and thumbed the safety, crouching just out of sight, waiting for Karel to materialize again.  
  
From a building rooftop just across the street, a man plunged limply to waiting pavement, the sickening crack of his body ascending the evening sky. His head exploded on impact, splattering brain and gore over those unfortunate enough to be standing close.  
  
Screams tore the descending night.  
  
Lara clutched the wooden support to her right, hefting her pistol in one hand, watching the grisly scene through widened eyes.  
  
Kurtis, or Karel, whoever the hell he was, appeared in her sights once more, but her aim wavered indecisively.  
  
Another man sprinted from a nearby shop to join the chaos, wielding a wickedly-curved machete. He slashed at Kurtis' midsection with strength enough to cleave his muscular body in half, the blade penetrating thin cotton, just whisking by tender flesh.  
  
Kurtis grunted, and stumbled backward, his gun coming up again.  
  
Lara blew the man's head away.  
  
Kurtis spun, looking stunned, trying to decipher where the shot had come from which had saved his life.  
  
Lara saluted with her gun in acknowledgment, and their eyes met for a brief moment.  
  
Agony exploded all throughout her, carving a vicious path through her innards, its travel lethargic and torturous. She dropped with a low cry to both knees, the Glock clunking forgotten to hard ground. She tasted the acidic bitterness of blood on her tongue, the cold dark liquid lying stagnant against the warmth of her mouth.  
  
The world plunged to blackness before her.  
  
His resounding yell of "No!" reverberated in sensitive ears, a moment before she pitched limply over to lie unmoving in the crimson-stained dirt.  
  
A warm body crouched beside her, its heat thrusting away the chill that embraced her for a second. She felt strong arms encasing her, cradling her carefully, and experienced the sensation of rising, lifted easily in his secure grip. A gentle hand trailed lightly over her face, its passage curving full lips in the briefest of smiles.  
  
Then the darkness rose as a silent demon to claim her, and his touch dissipated into oblivion. 


	13. Chapter Twelve

A/N: *Reads Suetekh Seshat's review and cracks up laughing* Ahem. *Prepares to get beat up by angry readers* Erm, yes, the ending to this story was finished a long, long time ago and already posted at another site, and yet I left you guys hanging forever. Um, forgive me and don't beat me with sharp objects if I put the sequel up before this weekend? Deal? :D  
  
Disclaimer: Tomb Raider, Lara Croft, Kurtis Trent, and any other characters you recognize all belong to a bunch of rich, lucky bastards, who, if they can find it within the goodness of their hearts, should sell me the rights to Kurtis. :D  
  
Chapter Twelve  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Hospital  
  
Ecuador, August 23rd, 2003  
  
She squinted into searing light, consciousness overtaking her with surprising swiftness. Her nostrils flared against the tang of medicine and antiseptics, the faintest hint of another, more pleasant scent lurking beneath.  
  
She darted a tongue out to traverse dry lips, blinking in the harsh illumination.  
  
A hand descended from above, slender fingers traversing the soft curve of one cheekbone. A softly smiling face eclipsed her own, a stranger possessing satin dark hair and brilliant verdant orbs, the uniformed woman stepping up to Lara's right and fiddling with something out of her line of vision.  
  
"You are awake." she said in heavily accented English.  
  
"Apparently." Lara replied, shocked at the weakness of her own voice.  
  
"The drugs are working? You are feeling ok?"  
  
"Where the hell am I?"  
  
"A hospital. In Ecuador. You have been here one week, in a coma. You suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and lost a lot of blood. You were lucky the bullet hit no vital organs. He brought you here on a motorcycle, and kicked one of our doors down bringing you in." the nurse explained dryly, with a slight inclination of her head toward the dark-haired man dozing in a corner chair.  
  
Mahogany orbs shifted to his slumped and fatigued figure, perusing the familiar features, exhaustion visible in the tense lines of his face. His chin drooped limply to the hard slope of his chest, hair tousled carelessly, strong hands draped loosely over the chair's armrests.  
  
"How long has he been here?" Lara asked quietly, her gaze unmoving from him.  
  
"The entire week. The doctor tried to get him to leave many times, but he picked up his gun and took off the safety, like a threat. He only leaves briefly, to shower and eat. He barely sleeps; this is the first time he's slept in probably two days. We told him there was a good chance you would not wake up. Ever. He needed to realize that."  
  
"Well, at least he's bathing." Lara commented lightly, swallowing against a sudden thick lump crusting her throat. *Bloody hell. Don't start getting all sentimental, or something disgustingly sappy like that.*  
  
"Is he your husband?"  
  
"Hell no. And don't tell him you asked that; he just might shoot you."  
  
The nurse slipped a dubious look from beneath thick lashes. "I walked in on him holding your hand once. He looked embarrassed, and left right away." She smoothed the covers, pulling them taut across Lara's slender figure. "He is your boyfriend, then?"  
  
"No. Just a friend." Reluctantly, she turned her eyes from Kurtis' sleeping figure. "He wasn't crying, or anything embarrassingly soppy like that, was he?"  
  
The nurse shrugged. "I do not think so. I only check in here every few hours or so." She patted Lara's hand briefly. "He will be happy to see you awake." She spun on a heel to leave, clicking the door shut behind her.  
  
He snapped awake at the sound, cerulean eyes surging wide, body thrusting upright in a single violent motion. Exhaling softly, he cleared the last remnants of sleep from strained eyes and stretched, the sinews in his arms tensing then releasing.  
  
She watched him without speaking.  
  
Thick silence descended over both, his fidgeting momentarily ended. Hesitantly, Kurtis paced forward a step, approaching her bed, unaware of the change which had taken place while he was slumbering.  
  
She met his gaze head-on, and nearly smiled when he froze, shock registering in both azure pools.  
  
He stood completely motionless a moment, as though not quite sure whether to believe the sight before him, heart drumming powerfully. He'd come upon this exact scene numerous times in the past week, but always different; her flesh pallid, lifeless, dark orbs tightly closed, forever probably.  
  
Kurtis eyed her coolly, covering the brief flash of emotions quickly. He wasn't sure whether to leap on her and kiss her like she'd never been kissed before, or bolt for the door and run like hell from this frightening, unnamed feeling welling in his chest.  
  
He did neither, instead taking another step toward her. "You're awake." he said indifferently, careful to keep his voice casual.  
  
"So are you. Should we throw a party?"  
  
"Maybe later. And only if you bring the cake."  
  
"You look tired." she commented, lifting both eyebrows. "Would you like to take the bed, and I'll go sit in your chair? I've been stuck in this damn thing long enough."  
  
"I haven't been sleeping well." he answered succinctly.  
  
"My fault, I suppose."  
  
"The chairs in this piece of shit aren't what you'd call cozy." He shrugged. "I've been staying at a hotel a few blocks away, anyway. I was just here for a quick visit and I fell asleep."  
  
Lara suppressed a smirk. *You filthy little liar.* "Really? So you haven't been here much, then?"  
  
"Not much to do. You've been taking a long nap."  
  
"Hmmm." She paused a moment, a thoughtful look seizing beautiful features. "Is that smoke I smell?"  
  
"I don't smell anything."  
  
"I think it's burning pants, actually."  
  
He stared at her, uncomprehending. "What?"  
  
"Isn't that an American saying? 'Liar liar pants on fire?' Charade's up, Kurtis. The nurse was in just a few minutes ago and told me that you haven't left this room in the whole week I've been here, except to eat and shower."  
  
His face darkened, blackness roiling dangerously in both eyes.  
  
"Don't get your knickers in a twist about it. Someone had to be here to explain what happened to me when I came out of the coma." She beckoned to him with a slender finger. "But not now. I'm tired, strange as that might sound. And I hurt everywhere. So you can tell me everything in a few hours, when we've both rested." Uncertainty stole briefly across her face. "This boat's big enough for the two of us. But only this once." Lara hastened to declare as he raised both eyebrows in an incredulous look. "I'll let you share the bed with me."  
  
"That's generous of you." Kurtis replied, smirking.  
  
"Oh shut up, Yank." Lara snapped, and nestled deeper into the blankets concealing lithe curves. *I'm sorry I offered.*  
  
He paused a moment, his gaze resting on her face as her eyes slipped closed once more. Then, quietly, he closed the distance to the bed, and lightly nudged her shoulder, fingers closing gently against the material of her hospital gown. "Move over."  
  
She cracked an eye at him and obeyed, shifting to create enough room for him to lie.  
  
Kurtis swung a muscular leg over the railing encircling her bed, and settled beside her, drawing the covers over their inert bodies. His arms slipped automatically around her waist, drawing her small supple body to his larger frame, one stubbled cheek resting against a softly rounded shoulder.  
  
They drifted into sleep only moments later, comfortably entwined, their breaths softly mingling.  
  
* * *  
  
"So tell me just what exactly happened, a week ago. I haven't quite fit all the puzzle pieces together yet."  
  
Kurtis shifted beside her, the wide hospital bed squeaking its protest at his movement. One strong hand absently trailed the length of her arm where it lay draped across his firm stomach. "Karel was supposed to take my place. He had a sniper staked out on the top of the building across the street, ready to shoot you if something went wrong."  
  
"And how could you possibly know all this?" Lara asked, quirking one eyebrow as she rolled over to rest her cheek atop his chest.  
  
He smiled slightly at the unexpected show of affection. *Drugs must be affecting her thinking.* Shifting once more to accommodate her weight, Kurtis curved an arm around a voluptuous hip, holding her securely to his body. "Far-see."  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Part of my 'magical powers.' I can go outside my body, like a vision, and see things up to several miles from where I'm standing."  
  
"Learn something new everyday." Lara commented dryly. "I didn't realize you were a man of such talents."  
  
He felt her hand drift slowly across his chest, taking up a meandering pattern over the cotton of his shirt, traversing thin material in lazy circles.  
  
"How did you know where to find Karel? And how did you know he was hanging around, anyway? Don't tell me you can read minds." *I really hope your 'magical powers' don't extend into that, because if you've been reading some of the thoughts *I've* had recently...*  
  
"Call it a gut feeling." he said coolly, ignoring her slightly mocking tone. "I had a feeling something was off when we got into Ecuador. When I told you I was ducking into one of the buildings to use a bathroom, I found an alley and scanned the area with my far-see, and found Karel talking to a few of his cronies."  
  
"You can hear conversations with your far-see?"  
  
"No. That's why I'm good at reading lips."  
  
*And kissing them.* Lara thought, smiling slightly as she burrowed her nose into his chest, inhaling the clean masculine scent wafting lightly from his strong body.  
  
"Karel was supposed to take on my shape after his men had captured me, to lure you into being captured too."  
  
"Why did you pull your gun on me, you bastard? There was no need for that."  
  
"There was if you wanted to stay alive. If the man on the building had suspected I wasn't Karel he'd have killed you. So I jammed my gun against your neck to take away any suspicion, until we could get out of the line of fire. And then you screwed it up."  
  
Lara thrust her fist into his shoulder. "What was I supposed to do? Just let you take me into a back alley to ravage me? I thought you were Karel."  
  
"It got you shot." he said coldly. The bullet hit you in the chest; you lost a lot of blood before I could get you here, to the nearest hospital. And when you went into a coma after surgery, they said it was likely you wouldn't be waking up again."  
  
She smirked. "And let me guess: you were devastated."  
  
"No." he replied indifferently. "But I was pissed that you bled out all over my motorcycle."  
  
"You darling man." she retorted sarcastically, propping herself up on one elbow and playfully pinching his cheek. "I never suspected you cared so much." Her fingertips lightly grazed the curve of his mouth, the casual move prompting a shiver down his spine.  
  
"What did you want me to do? Weep like a baby?" Kurtis snapped, iciness stealing over cool azure orbs. "This is just business, after all, right? Business partners don't cry over each other's close brushes with death."  
  
"In that case, since we're just 'business partners,' get out of my bed." She thrust hard against him, the power of her shove surprising considering her weakened state.  
  
His shoulder impacted the low railing hard, the ensuing clang reverberating all throughout the small room. "Ow! Dammit, Croft!"  
  
"And for my next trick..." she murmured, setting both hands threateningly against his muscular back.  
  
He twisted to seize her hands, gripping the slender palms tightly, his intense gaze burning into hers. Their eyes met, and held, for a long, agonizing moment, the heat between them flaring brilliantly. Then, abruptly, Kurtis released her and rose, his warmth dissipating into the surrounding chill.  
  
"I've got business to finish up with Karel, anyway." he said without looking at her.  
  
She tracked his movement from beneath thick dark lashes as he neared the door. For a moment she longed to call him back, but pride and stubbornness merged as one to still her vocal cords, only soft breathing permeating the silence now.  
  
He paused, one hand resting lightly against the doorknob. The hard curve of his back remained facing her; it seemed he would not even allow her one last glimpse of his ruggedly handsome face. "Have a good recovery." His voice rang as cold and emotionless as always; for the life of her Lara could detect no underlying emotions.  
  
Then the door slipped noiselessly aside, and her final view of Kurtis Trent ended, cut abruptly short by hard wood.  
  
"Be careful, Yank." she said quietly. 


	14. Epilogue

A/N: Hey, look, I posted the epilogue already! :D I'm good, aren't I? No? Still pissed I left this dangling for so long, with the last chapter eleven ending in a cliffhanger? Yeah, my bad. But if you guys hurt me, I can't post the sequel! Just remember that.  
  
Disclaimer: Tomb Raider and all things associated with it belong to Eidos and Crystal Dynamics.  
  
Epilogue  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Lab  
  
Cambodia, September 6th, 2003  
  
It consumed all, the fire's brilliance flickering and dancing beneath the silver effulgence of a lightly drifting moon. The building rippled in an ethereal haze, partially sheathed by curling smoke from the cold indigo eyes observing the morbid scene.  
  
Screams tore the night, echoing high and long across rolling landscape.  
  
He watched emotionlessly, a single lit cigarette dangling from thin lips.  
  
A sudden explosion trembled the ground beneath the bike he casually straddled, an immense fireball ascending the night sky. He felt the concussion deep in his bones, its ferocity jarring him forward into both handlebars.  
  
This triumph was the direct result of two weeks of intense searching; in two weeks he'd located Karel, infiltrated Karel's Cambodian quarters, and then razed it to the ground, destroying years of the Nephilim's work, not to mention many of his best scientists. Now it lay in smoldering ruins before him.  
  
The night lay silent and still once more.  
  
His part in Karel's Great Work would no longer be needed; not with all Karel's information and experiments destroyed. Kurtis' blood, the elixir which Karel had been convinced would be the only salvation for his hybrid army, was no longer useful with no regenerated humans to inject it into. Karel's blood, impure and tainted, could not keep them alive, his experiments dying horribly after they'd been implanted with gentic-altering DNA in an attempt to shift their gentic make-up to that of one of the immortal Nephilim. Kurtis, as the last surviving member of the Lux Veritatis, was to provide the final link, the last piece of the puzzle Karel needed to ressurect his race.  
  
Though undeniably still alive, Karel was a ruined man. The Sleeper had been destroyed by Lara herself, and now the rest of his experiments set to flame by Kurtis' own hand. World domination seemed unlikely, now.  
  
The thought curved thin lips in a smile. Still watching from beneath long bangs, Kurtis flicked aside his cigarette, smashing it beneath one booted foot. Then, with a throaty roar, his motorcycle growled to life, its cry trailing far into ebony sky.  
  
A/N 2: 'Kay, dear readers, that's it for Into the Dark. Keep your eyes peeled for 'Fallen In Light,' the sequel to this, which I'll post soon, I promise. I already have almost 50 pages of it written. 


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